Destiny Done Right
by AlthosHol
Summary: Harry Potter sacrificed everything for the world and it all amounted to nothing. Now in his final moments will Destiny take pity on an old man without hope? Fate had her turn. Now it's time for Destiny to show everyone how it's done right. Will you try again Harry Potter? Will you save them all or let history repeat itself?
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. All characters and plots within were created and are owned by J.K. Rowling. I am simply borrowing them for fun and seek no monetary gain from this. Any original characters or plots are mine._**

 ** _Summary: Harry Potter sacrificed everything for the world and it all amounted to nothing. Now in his final moments will Destiny take pity on an old man without hope? Fate had her turn. Now it's time for Destiny to show everyone how it's done right. Will you try again Harry Potter? Will you save them all or let history repeat itself?_**

 ** _Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this story. I've always wanted to do a time travel story and I hope I am making it believable. Well as believable as a story filled with magic and time travel can be. This is an unbeta'd story at the moment. If anyone feels like they would like to take a stab at being a beta please PM me. Hope you all enjoy!_**

 ** _Chapter 1: Going Back_**

 ** _*UPDATED: 12/21/2015*_**

 ** _July 31st_** ** _2080_**

 ** _10:45pm_**

It was fitting, he thought, that he would meet his end in the same cold dreary shack from which his adventure first began. The same desolate shack, where Hagrid had found him and subsequently introduced him to the world he had grown to both love and hate with equal measure. So many years had passed since that day. Since he was that small young boy completely clueless to the adventures that awaited him. He shivered slightly from the cold as he laughed at the irony of it.

He'd sought shelter here months back thinking only that it was the most secluded location he could recall, but since then he couldn't help but wonder if there had been more to it than that. Perhaps the universe wanted a semblance of symmetry or closure. The thought amused him.

He shifted slightly trying to find a more comfortable position even though he knew it was useless. It had occurred to him at one point that the wooden floor might actually have been a better choice, but by then he'd already been lying there for hours, listening to the storm outside as it rattled the walls of the shack, moving would serve no purpose. His wrinkled hands clutched his thin blanket tightly, as he patiently awaited the inevitable.

The only source of light in the room was the single candle he'd lit earlier that evening. A small gesture of celebration that he had considered forgoing, but had ultimately decided was worth making.

After all, how many times did one get to see their 100th birthday?

It would surprise most people that once he would have seen this birthday as just one of many. In fact, if events had played out differently, he might have just chuckled with amusement as he realized he'd just entered the realm of the middle aged.

Wizards were a very long lived race after all…normally.

Unfortunately, for him, his youth and vitality had been stolen from him. Taken from him by a malicious curse cast by the most powerful dark wizard in living memory.

A dark wizard that he had faced many times over the years. Each of their battles ending in the death of his adversary, only to watch as his spirit refused to pass on despite his mortal body's death.

He was lucky a few times; the gaps between their meetings sometimes lasted years, but even then he always knew it was just a matter of time until the self-proclaimed "Dark Lord" would rise again and seek him out once more.

This night his thoughts drifted, as they often had recently, to the friends he hoped would be waiting for him when he finally made it to the other side. It had been so long since he had last seen any of them…decades in fact. He'd been alone for quite some time. Some would say it was through choice, that over the years he had become a master at keeping people at a distance; never letting them close…and they would be right to say such.

He had learned through experience that friendship was a luxury other people had. People who didn't have a mad man haunting them, targeting the people they loved.

Any friends he made were always the first to die when Voldemort would make a re-appearance.

The first time it had happened, he had been furious. He had fought harder and fiercer than he ever had before.

The second time – he blamed himself for not seeing it coming. It had happened before after all. So again he had taken this pain and turned it against the one who had wronged him with devastating effect.

The third time….the third time he had simply knelt at their graves and promised "never again".

He made what he had thought the best decision he could have made back then. No more friends, no more loved ones.

The next time Voldemort had risen he had found himself without ammunition to use against his foe.

For years the fights had grown shorter and shorter with each confrontation. The _Leader of the Light_ Growing stronger and stronger over time, his magic and experience increasing as the years passed. This continued until his 60th year when his enemy finally decided to change the rules.

Accepting that his opponent had grown too strong to defeat in a direct fight, Voldemort had started attacking from the shadows; Cursed objects, Poisons, Waves of inferi. Anything that had a chance of weakening his prey was used.

In the end it wasn't a grand fight that would determine the victor, but a snake in the grass, unseen, unexpected, but undeniably deadly.

An insidious curse, left as a trap on the one object the light wizard never thought to check. An angle of attack that he had stopped preparing for. The one avenue he had thought himself protected from.

The dark lord had once again found a way to use his loved ones against him.

Voldemort cursed his mother's gravestone, infected it with dark magic, the likes of which no one had ever seen or heard of. The curse was triggered the moment he laid his hand on it, an act he'd performed every year, without fail for over 40 years, on the anniversary of his parent's death.

It was a vile curse, latching on to his very soul and corroding his magical core. It did not instantly kill, no it was much more subtle than that. His core pushed back against the invading energy, slowing its progress, but was never able to completely expel it. It would take a decade for his powers to diminish to the point of the curse becoming a true handicap. Battles that had once been over in moments started to take more effort. Each battle, each confrontation taking more time than the last. Until eventually, for the first time in more than 35 years he had been forced to flee from his enemy.

This would happen again during their next duel…and again in the one after that…In the end he would always return, better prepared, and claim victory, but it was always a close thing, barely surviving through sheer skill as the slow decline of his powers started to truly take their toll.

A wizard's vitality is directly linked to their magic. The stronger the mage the longer their lifespan.

For Harry James Potter, one of the strongest wizards in recorded history, his 100th birthday should have been no more significant a birthday than his 50th. His lifespan easily reaching to 2 or even 3 times that…

The damage to his magical core had changed his fate. Nothing he tried had been able to counter the dark and unfamiliar magic that had taken up root in him. It was only a matter of time until his core hit the point of no return. A point where it would no longer be able to generate more magic than it was losing.

A point that had already passed for the old man now quietly waiting for the end to come.

Harry Potter did not fear death. In fact he welcomed it now. He wanted the peace it would bring. A final escape from the pains that had haunted him for years.

As the former Boy-Who-Lived felt the last dredges of his power leaving his body – slipping away like water down a drain, time seemed to stop for a moment as the spiritual wound finally sapped him completely.

The words of his old mentor traveled through time in that moment to whisper in his ear, 'To the well-organized mind, death is simply the next great adventure'.

There was a time in his life where he would have resented and dismissed any advice coming from Albus Dumbledore, the former headmaster of Hogwarts. The man's manipulations and agenda had simply cost Harry too much for there to be any kind of forgiveness or peace between them.

And yet despite everything, despite every misfortune that Harry had suffered that could be traced back to one of Dumbledore's manipulations, despite the lies and the scheming, and all the fallout that had come about because of Albus Dumbledore. Harry found himself actually looking forward to seeing his old headmaster again.

If only to relish the chance to punch the old codger in the face. He smiled as he imagined how good that would feel.

But more than anything else, he was looking forward to seeing _her_ again.

So many years had passed since he'd lost her. He'd waited so long to see her again; to apologize for everything.

Logically he knew he wasn't to blame for the distance that had grown to exist between them, the guilt for that fell on the shoulders of another, but understanding the truth and accepting it were two very different things.

He could only hope she could find it in her heart to forgive him for not realizing the truth sooner.

It was with those last thoughts that Harry Potter closed his eyes one final time and allowed the world to slip away.

# # #

There was an all-encompassing darkness for a moment, but it was brief and quickly replaced by a blinding light that forced him to shield his eyes and left him seeing spots even after the sudden flare had died down.

It only took a moment for him to recognize where he was.

He was back at the transition point. The _Afterlife Train Station_ as he had taken to calling it.

The same place he had found himself the last time he'd died. Nothing had changed in the eighty plus years that had passed since that night. Not that he really expected it to. He doubted time had any real meaning in the realm of the dead.

Harry took a moment to perform an inventory on himself. The robes he was wearing were certainly not what he had been expecting.

 _That's odd. Last time I checked I was wearing my nightgown._

It had been quite a long time since he'd last worn his old Hogwarts uniform. It felt as comfortable as he remembered.

Spotting a mirror hanging on a nearby wall. Harry gave himself a once over and sighed in aggravation.

"So am I going to be stuck as a 16 year old for all eternity?" He mused aloud.

"Actually you're 15 to be more precise." A gentle voice clarified for him.

Harry spun around in surprise, frowning as he failed to locate the source of the commentary.

"Look at what has become of our chosen Fortuna." A second voice said.

"Yes such a shame it was. So regrettable." The original voice agreed.

"Hello…Who are you? Where are you?" Harry looked around cautiously.

"Shhh...You're going to scare the young man." The second voice scolded her companion softly.

"Me? What about you?" Came the irritated response.

Harry kept looking around the room trying to locate where the voices were coming from.

"Ummm...not to be rude or anything, but who are you?" He asked again.

"I suppose we might as well get this show on the road as the saying goes." One of the voice's said with a sigh.

"Language has lost so much of its elegance in this age. I can still remember the words Alexander used when he…" the second voice trailed off full of melancholy.

"Oh hush about that. Always going on about him thanking you for everything. You always seem to conveniently forget my contributions whenever the topic comes up."

"Oh don't joke. We both know it was my influence that earned him 'The Great' title."

"Are you kidding me?! I was the one who..."

"Uh excuse me...could someone please tell me what the bloody hell is going on?" Harry interrupted allowing his irritation to finally show in his tone.

"Oh…we should probably..."

"Yes, your right."

Harry was about to speak up again when he was cut off by another flare of light.

When the light faded Harry was taken back a bit by the two figures that had materialized in front of him.

The first thing he noticed about them, since it slammed into him with enough force that he was surprised he was still standing, was their magical presence; the power flowing off them was absolutely incredible.

Much greater than anything he had ever experienced during his many years as a wizard. Later when his mental faculties had returned to him he would be thankful that he hadn't been using his mage sight at the time as the sheer brilliance of their auras would likely have blinded him.

The second thing he noticed was that they were nearly identical; build, complexion, facial features, hair style, it was all the same. The only difference between them he could make out was their hair color.

One had hair as black as midnight; the other, a golden blonde that shined as if it was permanently being lit by sunlight.

They were easily the most beautiful women Harry had ever seen. He would even go as far as to describe their beauty as "other worldly".

Both of the women smirked at him and glanced at each other for a brief moment as they caught his stray thought. Though he didn't notice. He had already moved on to examining what they were wearing.

 _Are those supposed to be pajamas?_ He wondered to himself.

"These are not Pajamas!" The one on the left replied offended. "These are Persian silk robes from the 5th century!"

Her twin smiled at him seeing the shock on his face and ignored the other's outburst. "Hello Harry it is nice to finally meet you face to face."

"Umm thank you. I would like to say the same, but I still have no idea what's going on." He replied politely, deciding to err on the side of caution for the time being. Apparently these two could read his mind. He hadn't even felt a whisper against his occlumency barriers.

"My name is Seyella and I am the Goddess of Destiny." The blonde introduced herself as she waved a hand, conjuring two comfortable looking armchairs that both ladies immediately made use of.

Harry gaped silently in disbelief at that.

His reaction seemed to amuse her twin as she giggled slightly before introducing herself. "I am Fortuna. Goddess of Fate."

Harry looked back and forth between the two "goddesses" trying to come up with something to say. Something that hopefully wouldn't result in his soul being scattered across the cosmos.

"Please excuse my ignorance, but I thought fate and destiny were the same thing?" He finally managed.

"Oh no, not at all." Seyella replied. "Please take a seat while I explain." An arm chair appeared behind him as she spoke. He was quick to comply. "Fate can be described as the sequence of significant events that are preordained to occur throughout one's life."

"And Destiny is the ultimate destination or culmination of one's life based on the choices one makes when dealing with the obstacles or gifts Fate provides." Fortuna continued.

"So free will doesn't exist? Our lives are already mapped out?" Harry asked feeling more than a little uncomfortable at the thought.

Seyella smiled comfortingly. "No Harry, not everyone has a predefined destiny. Only the chosen few, those who have been determined to be strong enough to influence the balance. It's not easy for most mortals to comprehend, but let me try to give you an example." She said.

"Let's say one has been given the destiny to "Save the World"." She paused for a moment to see if he was following. "It's up to them to decide how they go about fulfilling that destiny. For instance, they could go into politics and usher in world changing reform. They could defeat a powerful enemy bent on global domination. They could actually become a dark lord or lady themselves and conquer the world, imposing their rule and bringing about what they see as the perfect world order. One could even decide to simply not do any of that and ignore their destiny altogether."

"I don't understand. If someone can ignore a destiny then what's the point of having one?" Harry asked.

"You can ignore a destiny for sure, but those that do so will always find that they are never quite satisfied or fulfilled with their lives. They will always have the sense that something is missing or wrong."

Harry looked over at the other goddess. "What about fate?"

"Fate's path is meant to prepare you for your destiny. The culmination of all the significant events or obstacles that pop up throughout one's life. You get to choose how you'll react to them and the choices you make place you on different paths towards other events and possible choices. All of which are designed to prepare you for your destiny, if you have one." Fortuna smiled as she explained her role.

"So my parents...Sirius…my friends, their deaths were meant…to what? Prepare me for my destiny?" Harry could feel his anger rising even as he struggled to remain calm and collected.

Fortuna however was quick to jump in and clarify. "No Harry. You have to remember that you might have a fated path, but so do others. Those fates interact whenever people interact." She explained.

"You make choices, they make choices, and those around them make choices. All of those paths touch and influence each other. This makes it extremely difficult to predict outcomes. That is how free will comes into effect. Your parents chose their fate. They chose to resist repression and evil. They fought against Voldemort. This conflicted with Voldemort's chosen path, and as a result they became targets. That was a part of your parent's fate and they CHOSE to protect you, it was that expression of free will that resulted in their deaths."

Harry thought about what she was trying to say and pushed his anger away. He would always feel some guilt for his parents deaths, but he had also always known they had chosen to sacrifice their lives for him, he knew that the true blame for their deaths rested on Voldemort's head. It wouldn't be smart to forget that after so long.

"Ok I think I understand all that, but what I don't understand is why you're both here. It can't be normal for the goddesses of Fate and Destiny to sit down and explain their roles to people."

Seyella smiled again. "Harry we've come to offer you a gift. You've been wronged. I wrote your Destiny and Fortuna here decided your Fate, but you were never meant to suffer as much as you did."

Her eyes narrowed in frustration.

"Voldemort has been receiving aid both direct and indirect from the darker realms. That interference threw up obstacles that couldn't be predicted and while trying to help you with those obstacles Fortuna here ended up contributing even more to your suffering."

Fortuna, looking slightly aggrieved, picked it up from there. "As a result we decided to plead your case to The Source."

"The Source?" Harry asked.

"The Source of everything. Our boss as it were." She replied, Harry smiled at the idea of a Goddess referring to anyone as their "boss". "The Source agreed that, since I had interfered in your life beyond allowed limits, it would be acceptable for Seyella to offer you a chance to undo the damage I caused." Fortuna seemed slightly embarrassed to have to admit so much.

"How?" Harry asked suspicion and confusion clear in his voice.

"We have come to offer you a choice." The Goddess of Destiny replied.

"What choice?" Harry asked his eyes narrowing. "I thought I was done."

"Yes that is one of your choices." Seyella acknowledged with a nod. "You can move on from here to your 'next great adventure' and be with your loved ones again. Everyone agrees that you deserve that much." She looked him directly in the eye as she gave him the rest. "The other option is to send you back."

"Why would I go back?" Harry asked indignant. "Haven't I done enough? There's nothing left to defend, nothing left to go _back_ to. Voldemort's last campaign…it destroyed everything." The memories he'd suppressed for so long were threatening to surface.

The desolate landscapes, the burnt skeletal remains of Diagon Alley and Downing Street, the cold chill that now permanently resided over Britain…

"You misunderstand." Fortuna replied once again cutting off his thoughts before they could slip any further. "We are not offering to simply send you back to the moment you died. We are offering you a second chance at the life you should have had in the first place, the chance to go back and relive most of your life. We would send you back to the summer before your fifth year at Hogwarts."

She didn't give him a chance to formulate a reply.

"We offer this because of my failures Harry. I interfered too much. We are normally not allowed to alter the flow of events once they are in motion, but with you I made an exception. I tried to nudge you along, set you on certain paths thinking I could help you, but in the end you suffered greatly because of it and so did others. It has been decided that you deserve a second chance. You would retain all your memories and skills, we would essentially be merging your soul with that of your younger self. We will have to limit your magical core a bit before we send you back though so you might notice some changes on that front. Your younger body wouldn't be able to contain all that power hitting it all at once."

Harry ran his hand through his hair as he tried to come to terms with what he was being offered. The chance to undo all the mistakes he had ever made. No, the chance to PREVENT those mistakes from happening at all. Could he truly move on and meet his friends and family again knowing he had turned his back on such an opportunity?

So many people had gotten hurt…So many families had mourned loved ones. He wasn't the only one that had suffered. Didn't he owe it to them? Didn't he owe…

Harry closed his eyes as he cut off that train of thought. That was his answer. There was no other choice.

"I accept your offer." Harry told them. "But before we do this let me ask…Why that time period specifically? Why couldn't I go back to my...fourth year or perhaps even my first year?"

"We are not all powerful Harry." Seyella replied. "We do have limitations. The rite we will use can only send you back to specific points where the fabric of space and time are at their thinnest. The strain of inserting your soul back into the flow of time at that specific point is...severe, but manageable. The strain of trying to send you elsewhere would be too much for us to contain. Attempting to force it would risk tearing the fabric of reality." Harry could almost detect a shudder in her voice when she thought about the possible consequences that would have. "I'm sorry, but we can't risk that, not even to right the wrongs committed against you."

"Okay how do we get started then?" Harry asked.

"You don't have to do anything, but there is one thing that I would like to say before we start." The Goddess of Destiny replied. "You mustn't tell anyone about who you are or where you came from. The truth of the afterlife MUST remain a secret. If your enemy ever learned of what has been done here, they could use that information to terrible effect." She waited for his nod of acceptance before reaching out to him, her finger extended.

"Good luck," Harry heard her whisper right before she made contact, and then the darkness returned.

# # #

 ** _July 30th_** ** _1995_**

 ** _11:59pm_**

Number 4 Privet Drive was a small house. Nothing extravagant, nothing exciting, a nice normal house in a cozy little suburb where nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. A fact that the owners of the house: Vernon and Petunia Dursley took great pride in. The only embellishment allowed was Mrs. Dursley's prized rose garden.

The residents of Privet Drive walked by the house every day, never knowing that the plain exterior was a carefully preserved facade meant to hide an incredible secret, one the Dursleys kept under lock and key, sometimes literally.

The source of this great secret was a young teen, whom at that very moment was sleeping fitfully inside the smallest bedroom. Thrashing back and forth on a tattered and stained mattress as Fate and Destiny changed his life forever.

A bright flash of light illuminated him briefly - focusing on the area directly over his heart before it disappeared without a sound.

"Ahhh!" The young man's screamed as he awoke to a burning pain in his chest. Sitting up quickly and taking a few deep breaths, calming as he felt the pain start to dissipate. Looking around disoriented, it took a few moments for his head to clear and for realization to set in.

"I'm back!" The young wizard known as Harry Potter exclaimed.

His excitement was cut short as he heard the heavy foot falls of something large stomping down the hall outside his room.

"BOY!" Vernon Dursley roared through the door. "Shut your mouth! Us decent people are trying to sleep! I'll not have you waking the whole neighborhood with your freakishness!"

"Sorry Uncle Vernon!" Harry called back. He had no real fear of Vernon Dursley anymore, but he needed to be careful to hide that fact. At least for the time being.

"It worked." He sighed quietly keeping his voice down as he listened to the man's retreating footsteps as he walked away.

Despite only having just woken up Harry still felt completely exhausted. Getting a good night's sleep for the first time in what felt like years sounded very appealing.

There would be time in the morning to make plans.

Laying back down and allowing his body to relax, Harry's thoughts drifted to what he would do first.

There would be no wasting any time this go around. He doubted the wizarding world was going to react well to the new Harry Potter.

He fell asleep smiling as he thought about all the changes he was going to make.

# # #

"Iustorum autem animae quae totamque incestat Pallantias inficit custodes operum lucis. Obsecro, abscondissem me forsitan ab eo vela mortalibus oculis transire."

The whispered words echoed through the room as a cloaked figure lowered themselves to kneel before the dark altar they had just finished assembling.

A bowl of blood, surrounded by bones of all shapes and sizes, some clearly human, reflected the light of the candles set throughout the room.

The candle flames flared dangerously as the final words of the ritual were spoken. "Apparuit coram me dominus Abaddon perditionem."

The cloaked figure fell silent and waited patiently for the summons to work. A few moments past before all the candles in the room started extinguishing themselves one by one and as the last flame was snuffed out, the room was plunged into darkness, the temperature in the room dropping sharply; low enough that the mirror set in the wall behind the altar started to frost over.

"Well Riddle it has been some time since you last summoned me." An ominous voice filled the room causing its sole occupant to shiver slightly in response before he pushed back the hood that had been concealing his face.

"I beg your forgiveness my lord." The words seemed to pain the one known as Lord Voldermort even as he cast his eyes to the mirror where a dark outline of…something had appeared, the image mostly obscured by the ice. "I have only recently regained a body and much needed to be done to ensure our…" He trailed off as the temperature in the room dropped even further and he was quick to correct himself. " _Y_ _our_ plans were not endangered."

The figure in the mirror was silent for a moment, considering his words.

"Yes, I see the restoration ritual I gave you worked….somewhat." The amusement behind the words plain to hear. "Tell me how did your followers react when they saw your face again after so many years…could they even recognize you?"

Voldemort clenched his fists tightly inside his cloak at the mockery he could hear from the being in front of him, but kept his face devoid of expression.

"It matters not my lord. My magic is stronger than ever. None of them would dare turn away from me."

"Yes that is true, you have always been very capable of inspiring fear in those that serve you. I suppose I should commend you for that at least. Still…I did warn you of the dangers of creating so many did I not?" The dark presence asked expectantly.

"Yes my lord." The man many considered the most powerful dark lord in modern history, bit his tongue as he gave the response expected of him.

"Well I suppose what's done is done." The entity replied sounding almost bored. "Let us move on to more important things. It is fortuitous that you summoned me when you did. I have just felt a shift in the scales. It seems that someone on the other side has finally taken notice of my interference."

"What has happened Lord Abaddon? I…" Voldemort began before being interrupted harshly.

"Silence!" The figure in the mirror roared as a crack appeared in the mirror as if to emphasize it's rage. The voice took on a menacing tone. "Names have power. You are not to speak mine outside of the summoning ritual…Did I not make that clear enough the last time you were so foolish?"

Feeling the malevolence in the air as an almost physical presence Voldemort immediately lowered himself closer to the ground in supplication.

"Please forgive me my lord!" He nearly begged. His fear of the creature he had called forth for a brief moment crushing any trace of his resentment or pride from existence. "It has been so long since we last spoke, it slipped my mind. I promise it will not happen again."

"You are correct Tom. It will not happen again." The now named Abaddon assured the wizard. "If it does…Well I would be most disappointed."

Panic gripped Voldemort as he briefly recalled the last time he had displeased his master. Not even the pain of having his soul ripped from his body by his own curse had equaled what he had felt back then.

"I swear it my lord."

Abaddon took a moment to enjoy the fear he could sense emanating from the mortal in front of him before deciding he had let the man tremble enough.

"I shall grant you leniency this once; consider it a gift for all the souls you have fed to me over the years, but do not test my patience any further."

"Thank you my lord."

"Do not thank me yet Riddle...I said I would grant you leniency...I do not recall saying you would not be punished." The evil called forth chuckled in anticipation as the Dark Lord Voldemort felt his limbs lock in place. "To show how merciful I can be...you're punishment will only last until dawn."

The only thing Tom Riddle AKA Lord Voldemort could think about at that moment was whether or not the privacy wards he had erected would be strong enough to silence what was about to happen.

It would not do for his Death Eaters to hear their master's screams.

# # #

The house was silent when Harry woke up the next morning. There were no sounds coming from the rest of the house.

He sat up and looked around the room in confusion for a moment before the reality of what had happened hit him.

 _So it wasn't a dream._

He was back. Confused he looked at the clock on his desk and saw that it was already well past 10 in the morning. The Dursley's hadn't woken him up to demand that he prepare breakfast. That confused him for a second until he remembered that by this point in the timeline he had already told them about his "Serial Killer" god-father that could appear out of nowhere and turn them into something unseemly if they treated him poorly.

He chuckled to himself as he recalled how he had conveniently forgotten to mention that said god-father was completely innocent of the charges that had been made against him, but he figured that Sirius wouldn't mind. In fact if Harry knew the man at all he was sure the old marauder would probably see it as just one big prank.

That train of thought derailed a moment later when Harry stopped to think of the implications – Sirius was still alive.

His Godfather and the closest thing he had ever known to a parental figure was still alive. Harry swore to himself at that point that he would make sure he stayed that way this time through.

Deciding to get the day started, Harry got out of bed, gathered some clean clothes and headed to the bathroom to let his body relax under the first hot shower he'd had in what felt like an eternity.

Finished with his morning routine and dressed for the day, he made his way back to his room and took a seat in the middle of the floor.

The first thing Harry decided to do was take care of his mental shields. He could ill afford to have anyone gleaning even surface thoughts off him.

His time was better spent working against Riddle than evading the Unspeakables from the Department of Mysteries.

Thankfully over the years Harry had mastered both Occlumency, the art of defending one's mind and Legilimency, its exact opposite, meant for attacking the mind of another.

He started the process by turning his focus inwards. Closing his eyes and blocking out all external stimulus. He was a bit surprised to feel that his shields were completely down, in effect leaving him wide open to any novice legilimens that happened to make eye contact. That would not do at all.

He had hoped that his internal world, being controlled and created by his will would have followed his consciousness back in time, but it seemed there actually was a physical aspect to occlumency after all.

Fascinating as that discovery was he pushed the thought away and reserved it for another time.

Harry sat there just focusing on his breathing as the room he was in faded from his senses. Normally accessing his mindscape was easy to do, only requiring a bit of concentration, but that would only allow him superficial access. If he truly needed to rebuild his defenses from the ground up then he needed complete submersion.

It took a few minutes to calm his thoughts and bring his will to bear properly, but in the end it worked. The scenery around him changed, the darkness from a moment before lifting.

Harry looked around curiously and cringed at what he saw. His memories were in book form as they were in the future, but they were strewn about the small open room he found himself in without any kind of rhyme or reason.

 _No wonder I always found school to be so difficult. Well that wasn't the only reason but still…._

Harry shook his head before he could continue the thought. He had already spent enough time on self-recrimination over the years. He needed to keep his focus on the here and now.

"Well this will have to change." Harry said to himself as he began rebuilding the room. He started by expanding the area and replacing the wooden walls with steel, conjuring up a few dozen bookcases with sliding glass doors and relocated them against the walls. The glass door of each shelf having a mirrored surface.

Once he was done with the foundation he began sorting through his memories and arranging them by subject and date. The same way he'd had them sorted in the future.

Organizing one's mind allowed for nearly total and complete recall. It made studying and retaining information a lot easier.

Once all his memories were sorted, Harry shifted his focus to the defenses, restoring them to what he considered adequate for keeping people out. Not as powerful as they could be, but strong enough for now.

Once his shields were up and working, Harry decided to take a moment and examine his magical core. The goddess had made a point to let him know that they would be limiting his power a bit. The question he needed to answer was: how much?

His mindscape was essentially his own internal world. A place where the laws of time and space didn't really exist unless he chose to allow them to. A realm completely controlled by his own will and imagination, and only limited by the same.

Over the years of mastering occlumency he had managed to do something many before him had considered impossible…to create a link between his own internal world and the physical world he lived in.

A link he created by opening a channel between his mindscape and his own magical core.

Willing himself deeper into his mindscape and into the chamber where the representation of his core resided he almost recoiled in shock at what he found there.

He berated himself for not expecting it. He had come back in time to before the first battle of Hogwarts. To a time when Voldemort's soul fragment still resided in his scar.

The representation his subconscious mind had chosen for his core was a giant beam of crackling green energy. He had no idea if how he saw his magical core was even close to what it truly looked like, but over the years and a lot careful consideration he had come to the decision that he simply did not care.

He liked it, so he had never made an effort to change it.

Rising from floor to ceiling the giant pillar of energy pulsed and spun continuously. His magic a vibrant green, the same shade of emerald as his eyes. It was intense, like a sun, but not harsh or blinding. By comparison the soul fragment's energy was black and viscous. More like oil than light. It wrapped itself around his own energy like a parasite feeding of the energy and most likely trying to suppress it at the same time. Harry knew from experience that in the past his core would likely have been compressed and stunted at this point in his life.

Fortunately that was no longer the case. The merging of his older adult core had apparently broken through the binding effect.

Unfortunately, he knew that would only be temporary. He couldn't leave the situation as it was. The darkness had been weakened and was barely hanging on, but it would most likely grow stronger as it continued to feed from his core. It would attempt to rebind his powers and if it succeeded it would feed off his core and be nearly impossible to dislodge without dying again.

Harry had no desire to risk death a third time when he could simply remove the taint now.

Being just a mental projection, in what was actually only a mental representation of his own internal world, any magic or action he took was simply an expression of his own will. It took almost no effort to begin burning off the dark substance.

The process took time. He had be thorough. Not even trace amounts could be left behind. He would extend his will out to a tendril of the dark energy and focus his magic there. The darkness was unable to absorb the energy being actively directed at it and was overwhelmed by its intensity and expunged.

This method seemed to be working for a time until he realized the energy was not simply sitting back and allowing itself to be removed. After burning away a piece of the invading energy he cursed in frustration as he noticed that remains of the first tendril he had removed was trying to reattach itself. He quickly doubled his efforts and started working faster, burning away existing tendrils while also preventing the old ones from taking hold again. It took over an hour to complete, but when he was finished the thrashing tendrils that had fallen to the floor were left squirming there like worms.

As he watched, the dark mass started shifting and changing, taking on a familiar form. One that caused Harry to recoil in disgust as he recognized it.

It was the same whimpering childlike figure that Harry had seen on the afterlife platform back in his seventh year when Voldemort had first killed him.

Harry knew exactly what to do with it. Gathering his will once more he commanded a surge of energy from his now completely cleansed core to strike the soul fragment.

Its screech filled the air for a few seconds before it finally succumbed and was annihilated.

Harry took a metaphorical breather and looked around for any signs that Voldemort's evil had survived. Finding none, he returned to original reason for examining his core.

What he saw brought a grin to his face.

His original 15 year old core had been bound by Riddle's soul when he was a baby, a fact that he hadn't figured out until his early twenties when the banishment of the scar horcrux had resulted in his core suddenly expanding several times over in just a few years.

In his prime he had managed to estimate his power to being about twice that of Tom Riddle's AKA Voldemort's and about three time more powerful than Dumbledore's. At the age of 17 Fate's whim…cough…prophecy…had dictated that he be Voldemort's equal. Leaving their cores…his stunted at the time…about the same capacity wise.

Taking that into consideration Harry was relieved to see that while he wasn't back at full strength yet, he was still about three quarters of the way there. Should his magic continue to develop like it should have from the beginning, by the time he was in his magical prime again he should be about twice as powerful as he was in the future before his decline.

The thought gave him some comfort. Even though he would have to wait a bit to actually see a significant increase he should at least have no problems matching Riddle in terms of raw magic.

Beyond his power levels there was another aspect of the merger that pleased him.

His magical signature matched that of his older self.

He would be able to perform all the magic he wished without the ministry sensors being any the wiser.

Allowing himself to feel optimistic about the immediate future Harry pulled himself out of his mindscape and made his way downstairs to prepare lunch.

Dudley was probably out terrorizing the neighborhood kids and Vernon was at work, leaving his aunt as the only other person in the house.

Luckily she seemed to be avoiding him and he was left in peace as he prepared himself a quick sandwich. Taking his food back to his room Harry spent the time it took him to eat to consider his next move.

Looking around he came to decision that it was time to see if his magical control had suffered at all with the transition.

Moving to the center of the room once again he imagined what he wanted the space around him to look like.

Using the standard spacial expansion charms took too long in his opinion. You had to do one dimension at a time.

He had always found it to be extremely tedious.

Harry's way was much faster, if a great deal less efficient in terms of the power required.

Holding the image of the new room in his mind he held up his hands, palms facing towards the walls of his room and, with an infusion of magic and exertion of will, he pushed. His small room growing to the size of the Gryffindor common room in less than a second.

That was a decent start, but not really a great test of his overall abilities.

He focused his thoughts on what he wanted and magic spread across the room as walls grew from the floor and furniture popped into existence. Harry relaxed his concentration and looked around at his brand new apartment, with a fully functional bathroom including a shower and sink; and a bedroom with a giant four post bed.

Harry felt a bit impressed despite himself. The thought that he would be capable of such magic at the age of 15 would have been ludicrous to him the first time around.

He was brought out of his perusal by a pounding on his bedroom door and a frantic voice coming from the hall.

"Harry! What's going on!? Potter answer me!" The voice sounded panicked and Harry quickly made his way to the door forgetting that he had sealed it with magic before starting with the renovations.

Unsealing it he opened the door to see a disheveled and frantic Nymphadora Tonks staring at him. Her eyes wide with confusion.

"Wotcher Tonks." Harry greeted the young metamorph casually still a little high on the success of using his magic again after being unable to for so long.

A moment later the fact that he was talking to someone who had died in his previous life hit him square in the gut forcing the excitement down. He couldn't help but remember all the silly conversations he and Tonks had had in the summer before she had died in the 1st battle for Hogwarts.

To him it was like looking at her ghost.

"That's my line." She replied though it sounded more like an automatic response than something she had intended to say. She was silent for a few seconds, a confused look on her face, before she shook her head and started ranting. "Harry are you ok!? What happened? I was just showing up for my shift when I felt the magic literally pouring out of the house. Did something happen?"

Harry cut her off before she could get any further. "I'm fine Tonks. Nothing happened." Harry tried to close the door a bit to block her view of the room behind him, his mind racing to find a way to explain the changes. He had completely forgotten that The Order had placed guards to watch out for him after Voldemort's return.

 _I should have warded the room first!_

"Harry something happened. That was a lot of magic! I could feel it from the street...what..." She trailed off as she caught a glimpse of the room behind him. Before he could even think to stop her she was dodging around him and in the room gaping at the size of it. "Oh Merlin...Harry...did you do this?"

Harry sighed in defeat. _Time to do damage control._ "Yes Tonks I did, but please let me explain before you tell anyone."

He could see her surprise at his shift in attitude.

Silence reigned for a few seconds before she rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Well…Go ahead, I'm listening." She said.

Harry clamped down on his emotions as he fought the desire to grin at her aggravation.

"Okay right…" He glanced around the room anxiously for a moment trying to come up with an excuse the young auror would buy. "I've been reading ahead this summer and came across the room expansion charms." He explained. "I figured I'd give it a try."

"Harry Blimey! Are you trying to get expelled!?" She spun around with her hands wide as if trying to indicate the entire room and emphasize the scale of the issue. "The ministry will have detected all the magic you used. There's no way they'll buy that it was accidental. They're gonna snap your wand for this!" Tonks said frantically.

"Tonks don't worry. It's ok." Harry said turning and walking towards the desk sitting along the back wall, he opened a drawer and reached in to "remove" the object he had conjured as soon as his hand was out of sight.

He brought it over to Tonks whose eyes widened as it got near.

It was a blue crystal no bigger than his palm and was shaped like a pyramid, except for its rounded base. The four sides etched with ruins whose lines were shimmering with a soft white light.

"This is a masking ward stone. I learned how to make one from a book I found in the restricted section of the library last year while I was trying to prepare for the tournament. It jumbles up all magical signatures within a 10 yard radius. The sensors tuned to me at the ministry can't detect any magic I do while I'm here."

Tonks looked at the stone for a minute and then glanced up into Harry's eyes. "Bloody hell mate…" She trailed off looking down and pinching her brow. "…I don't know if you're aware Harry, but I'm an auror…"

Harry rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Does that mean you're going to arrest me?" Harry asked her with a sheepish grin.

Eyeing him for moment as if contemplating doing just that, she smirked at him when her lack of answer started to make him fidget.

"I guess not." She said with an exaggerated sigh. "Just be more careful in the future."

"Don't worry Tonks. I'll be good." He replied with a smile.

Tonks couldn't help but smile back. The kid was definitely a charmer.

His smile turned into a frown as a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

"You know we were creating a LOT of noise there for a bit. Why didn't Aunt Petunia come to find out what was going on…wait did she see you when you came in yelling?"

It was Tonk's turn to look away in embarrassment.

"Well I might've…hit her with a stunner on my way up here." She confessed.

"Hmmm that would…wait…you did what?" Harry asked taken aback.

"Well she tried to stop me from coming up here. Started screeching at me..." Tonks was quick to explain. "I didn't know what was going on up here. I just felt the magic coming from your room and when she wouldn't let me in I kind of just…."

"Hit her with a stunner." Harry finished for her.

"Yeah." Tonks confirmed softly.

Harry sighed with relief as he observed the woman in front of him acting less like the auror he knew her to be and more like a child expecting to be scolded.

"Well at least we won't have to worry about her interrupting us." He said with a chuckle surprising the young woman in front of him as he gestured for her to take a seat on his new sofa.

"So what can you tell me about what's been going on?" Harry asked trying to change the subject.

Tonks knew right away what he was referring to. He could see it in her eyes.

"Well to be honest Harry there's not much I can tell you." She said uncomfortably, the topic of his aunt forgotten. "Dumbledore has been pretty tight lipped with a lot of his plans and for the most part I've just been doing shifts here," she told him.

"Okay, but what about any news from the ministry? How are they preparing? Have they located where Voldemort's hiding out yet?" He already knew the answers to all of his questions, but he decided to play it safe and at least try to maintain appearances.

Tonks flinched slightly at hearing the name "Voldemort" spoken aloud so easily, but recovered quickly. Her hair shifted from its normal bright pink to an equally as bright fiery red.

"The tossers aren't doing anything. The minister is still refusing to admit You-Know-Who is back!" The last part coming out harsher than expected. "Too be honest…too many people are buying into the ministry's codswallup."

Harry looked at her for a second before sighing. This was going to become a pain in arse; having to pretend he didn't know what was going on.

"What about the cemetery Tonks? Didn't anyone bother to even go pay it a visit?" This he was actually lightly curious about. He hadn't bothered to find out if anyone had gone to investigate the last time.

"Madam Bones sent Shacklebolt and me, but by the time she was able to work around Fudge and his idiocy it had already been well over a week. There was nothing to see there. I imagine Vol-Voldemort had some of his lackeys clean the scene." Her response didn't surprise him in the slightest. That was definitely Riddle's MO. He was laying low, trying to build up his powerbase before going public.

"I wish there was something I could do." Harry said as he sat down at the desk and rubbed his face with his palms a few times. "Some way to get them to listen."

"Hey I'm sure Dumbledore's working on it mate." Tonks tried to reassure him. Her hair going back to its original bubblegum inspired color.

"To be honest Tonks, I'm not sure that's enough to ease my worries right now." Harry told her wearily looking her right in the eye, "We've got to take action now before it's too late. If Voldemort's allowed to remain in the shadows while he reaches out to his old supporters, by the time we can shine a light on him it may be too late." Harry leaned back slightly in his desk chair. "What we need to do is create a list of his known associates and keep an eye on them in case he's been making contact. I wonder if anyone has tried opening a dialogue with the Werewolf packs, vampire clans, or any of the other so called "Dark Creatures". Those minorities that no one bothers to reach out to are going to be the first to flock to him when he starts making promises."

Tonks remained silent as she listened to him talk. Harry Potter was a bit of an enigma to her. From what she'd seen of him and heard from the other order members she had expected him to be ranting at her about being kept in the dark all summer, not calmly sitting there analyzing possible ways to counter the Dark Lord.

She wondered if Cedric's death had anything to do with the new more mature Harry Potter.

Harry ended up inviting Tonks to stay for dinner when he realized how late it had gotten while they were talking and she accepted with a smile and very little hesitation.

"I'm starving, I haven't had a bite to eat since this morning. Should we call out?" She asked.

"I was thinking I would make something. I've got this brand new kitchen and I kind of want to try it out." Harry smirked at the shocked look on her face.

"You can cook!?" Tonks couldn't keep her surprise to herself.

"I've been cooking since I was five years old and could reach the top of the stove." Harry replied with a laugh.

"So what are we gonna eat?" Tonks asked hearing a little voice in her head telling her to get him to expand on his answer a little bit more.

"Well I was thinking Italian." Harry told her drawing her out of her thoughts. "I haven't been able to go shopping, but I can head down to the kitchen and grab some things. It won't be anything fancy, but it should be filling.

"Great!" Tonks smiled brightly and Harry couldn't help but notice how much he enjoyed her smile. Her energy was definitely contagious.

He thought it a shame that he hadn't taken the time to get to know her better…before.

The dinner ended up being a huge hit with the young woman.

Harry had made a simple recipe, but Tonks still couldn't stop herself from praising his cooking repeatedly throughout the meal causing the younger wizard, at least from her perspective, to struggle to conceal how much he was appreciating her compliments.

It had been a long time since he had been able to cook for someone. It took him back to simpler times and fond memories.

They cleared the dishes together and split the tasks of cleaning up between them; Harry scrubbing them clean while Tonks gave them a rinse and dried them off. All done without magic, which kind of surprised Harry. Not many wizards or witches were willing to use their hands when waving a wand was so much faster and required less effort.

Once they were done Tonks excused herself for the night, letting him know that she would stop by the next day to check in on him.

He gave her a smile and escorted her to the door, watching as she walked to the end of the block before disappearing with a small crack.

Harry got ready for bed and settled down for the night. He had to admit that he was happy that he was going to have the time to get to know the young auror. He hadn't really been able to in the last go through and was definitely regretting it now. She was quick on her feet, clever and had a wicked sense of humor.

There were so many things that he was going to change this time around. He wouldn't allow anyone to dictate his future. Not again. He was going to take charge of his life and the first step to doing that would be taken care of the very next day. Harry made sure his mental shields were up before he closed his eyes and hoped for a dreamless sleep.

# # #

Harry Potter tossed and turned on his bed, as if trying to pull away from the nightmare that plagued him.

 ** _Lightning flashed as Harry chased the black cloaked figure through the darkness._**

" ** _Fight back!" Harry yelled, sending spell after spell at the man, only to watch as every one of his curses was effortlessly deflected._**

" ** _If you can't even harm me Potter, how do you imagine you'll stop the Dark Lord!?" Severus Snape mocked. His form completely unmoving, yet somehow still managing to slip farther and farther away from Harry no matter how fast he ran._**

" ** _Nooo!" Harry yelled as Snape disappeared into the darkness. His shoulders slumping under the weight of the overwhelming feeling of failure coursing through him. Time seemed to have no meaning in the dark. The lightning in the sky lighting up the area around him with every flash. A storm raged above, yet no rain fell._**

" ** _Harry?" He turned around as heard her voice call to him. Ginny Weasley, standing in front of him, dressed in her school uniform._**

" ** _Ginny? What are you doing here?" Harry asked._**

" ** _I'm here for you Harry." She replied._**

" ** _Ginny, what are you..." Harry trailed off as he heard a scream in the distance. "What was that?"_**

 ** _Ginny didn't seem to think it was important as she took his hand and tried to lead him back the way he had come. "It's nothing Harry, just ignore it."_**

" ** _I could have sworn I heard..." He said only to hear it again, but this time there was no confusion about what it was._**

" ** _Harry!" He heard her scream and turned back to where Snape had been standing only to see his best friend surrounded by Death Eaters, their black cloaks billowing and their white masks expressionless._**

" ** _Hermione!" Harry yelled in fear. He tried to run towards her only to feel himself being held back. He turned to look at Ginny who had refused to let go of his hand. "Ginny let go! Hermione needs help." He pulled against her grip, but couldn't break free._**

" ** _No Harry, She's fine. Stay here with me." Ginny said smiling._**

" ** _Harry Please!" He heard Hermione cry again. He looked back and saw that the circle of Death Eaters had contracted, they were almost within arm's reach of her._**

" ** _Please Ginny! Let me go! She needs me!" Harry was in tears. He was desperately pulling, but her grip was impossibly strong._**

" ** _It's okay Harry." Ginny assured him. "I'm all you need." Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was she insane!? He tried to pull out his wand again to try to free himself, but it was too late._**

" ** _NOO!" Hermione screamed. Harry watched in horror as the Death Eaters finally reached the girl and he lost sight of her as the sea of black robes engulfed her. The darkness absorbing the entire group. He heard Hermione scream his name one last time, before all was silent._**

"Hermione! NOO!" Harry screamed as he jerked upright in bed, gasping for breath, his heart hammering in his chest.

"Be quiet boy! This is the second time in two days! Keep this up and Godfather or not I'll have your hide!" He heard his Uncle scream from down the hall.

Harry threw the sheet he was using as a blanket off and climbed to his feet. He ran his fingers through his hair and grimaced as he felt the sweat soaked locks. He made his way over to his window and gazed out at the quiet street in front of Number 4 Privet drive.

Harry thought about the nightmare he had just had. What could it mean? Did it mean anything?

He shivered as he remembered Hermione's screams. He had felt so helpless.

Looking at the clock Harry decided to get moving. There was no use trying to get back to sleep after a nightmare like that.

After stepping out real quick to check on his aunt, who it turns out couldn't remember a thing about Tonk's arrival and had simply assumed she had fallen asleep in front of the TV, he cleaned himself up, transfiguring a pair of Dudley's old clothes into something a little more presentable and decided to take stock of what he still had available to him. He had a few hours before Tonk's was due to arrive.

Harry gestured with his hand and conjured the full length mirror that he would need for the first part of the exercises he was planning.

Hair would be first. He wanted to start off small.

Harry hadn't discovered his latent abilities as a metamorph until his mid-thirties and it had taken him years to master them. The biggest obstacle in training as a metamorphmagus was the complete knowledge and comprehension of your own features and body makeup.

Intimate knowledge of your own body was required for any truly significant changes. His older body was a lot different than the one he currently possessed. He was hoping it wouldn't take too long to retrain himself.

Slowly he forced his hair to grow out past his shoulders. He'd always enjoyed having long hair for no other reason than it made taming his unruly mop a bit easier. After that he focused on changing its color. It took over a minute of concentration, but when he finally relaxed he was pleased to see a ginger Harry Potter staring back at him from the mirror.

A moment later he grimaced as he realized he look like a Weasley, but a few seconds later he was able to relax as his hair resumed its natural shade.

He continued doing that for another hour, trying to speed up the process, it was slow work, changing the color took longer than he was used to, but in the end he was able to get himself back down to what he thought was a respectable time. Ten seconds was great deal slower than he was used to, but nothing to sniff at considering the circumstances. Eye color was next and progressed about the same.

But hair and eyes were easy for the most part; it was changing his body's shape that would present the most challenges.

His height had been a sore spot for him his first time around. He's been about 5'6" for most of his life, and if records about his paternal line were accurate he should have been at least 6' tall. The only thing he could think of to explain his lack of height was that his growth had been likely stunted by the care, or lack thereof, he had received from his relatives during his formative years.

It was time to change that.

Focusing on the magic he could feel flowing through his body he directed it to do what needed to be done. Harry grimaced slightly as he felt his body growing taller, his bones and muscles stretching. It was definitely easier than it had been the first time he had tried a full body morph, but it would take some time to get his speed back to where it should be. The discomfort he had felt during the change would fade as well once his body became use to process again.

He figured four inches was enough to start with. He was tempted to do more, but decided against it. He didn't need people asking questions about how he managed to grow eight inches in only 2 months. He could add the rest throughout the year if he felt the need. The now 5'9" Harry Potter walked around the room a little bit trying to get a feel for his new longer stride.

Harry held the form for another hour before returning to his normal height. He stumbled for a bit having gotten use to his new center of gravity.

He nearly face planted walking through the kitchen doorway, his toe snagging the door jam and leaving him off balance and cursing as he tried to sooth the pain flaring up his foot.

"Well it looks like I'm not the only clumsy one around here." Came an amused voice from behind him.

Harry whirled around quickly in surprise to see that Tonks had managed to get into the room without him noticing, almost tipping over in the process. He scolded himself for being so blind to his surroundings. Moody would have his head if he ever found out.

"Hey there Tonks how are you?" Harry asked smiling. He waited for a response, when he didn't get one he tried asking again with the same results.

Tonks was too busy staring at him with her mouth slightly agape. He was actually starting to get a little worried when she suddenly squealed in excitement.

"Oh my...How long? Do you know what you can do? Why didn't you tell me!?" She rushed through her questions almost faster than Harry could comprehend them.

"Tonks slow down. I don't understand. What are you talking about?" Harry asked confused.

"I'm talking about the fact that you're a metamorph!" Tonks yelled back.

Harry was taken back a bit and then groaned in disbelief as he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror.

Harry felt like slapping himself on the forehead when he noticed that not only had he failed to shrink his hair back down, but his eyes were not their normal emerald green. Tonks had walked in to the room only herself looking at a long haired, violet eyed Harry Potter.

"Yeah I'm a metamorph. I found out a while ago." He decided not to lie. "I wasn't going to tell anybody though. I figured it would give me a big advantage if I ever have to go up against the death eaters again."

"I guess I can understand that," Tonks agreed. "Between you and me there are definitely times when I wish that I had not been so cavalier about showing people my abilities. It's definitely would have been better for my dating life." She muttered the last part to herself and Harry wisely decided not to comment on it.

Tonks couldn't contain her excitement though and for the next couple of hours she ran him through his paces testing his morphing abilities.

She even went so far as to challenge him to a contest to see who could assume the most outrageous or ridiculous shape or form.

For Harry it was a kind of frivolity that he hadn't indulged in…well ever. Simply having fun was not something he had done a lot of in his life. He found himself enjoying it immensely despite his initial frustration over the fact that he'd managed to keep his metamorph powers a secret for all of a day and a half.

Tonks was forced to admit defeat in their last round when she couldn't stop laughing long enough to catch a breath.

Harry, using a full body morph and some transfiguration, had assumed Severus Snape's form wearing a black bodysuit and a too-too. That was hilarious enough, but when he started prancing around in a circle Tonks completely lost it.

"Bloody hell mate! Please stop…I'm never gonna be able to unsee that." Tonks gasped while trying to bring her breathing back under control.

Harry stopped with a grin and resumed his natural form and attire. He watched as Tonks calmed herself down although he was amused to hear a small giggle pop out randomly for the next several minutes.

Her eyes were shining with joy and Harry felt his stomach do a flip flop and his face get warm. He looked away embarrassed when he realized he was staring.

 _Stop it right now._ Harry scolded himself. _You are not some snot nosed teenager. Get your hormones under control._ He hadn't realized how much of a change being 15 again would be in that aspect.

If things weren't already going to be hard enough…

Deciding it was best to try and get away from the spunky pinkette, he was planning on excusing himself to run some errands, but as usual his plan backfired. Although he was man enough to admit that, at least this time, he should have seen it coming.

"OK." She said when he told her that he had planned to go to Diagon Alley that afternoon. "That's great. I wouldn't mind picking up some things while we're out."

"You want to go?" Harry asked hoping he had heard her wrong.

"Uhhh yeah. Do you honestly think I'd let you wander around Diagon Alley by yourself?" She asked incredulously. "What kind of minder would that make me? Dumbledore would have my head."

"Yeah I guess so." Harry saw the look on her face and immediately tried to back-step. "Not that I don't want you to come Tonks. I…ummm…I" He stuttered trying to come up with a response that wasn't likely to get him hexed.

She merely arched an eyebrow and smirked. "Well aren't you the eloquent one Mr. Potter?" His face lit up in a blush at her teasing tone, but he quickly used his morphing ability to hide it.

Anxious to move on from the embarrassment Harry decided to ignore her last comment…and his reaction to it.

"I'm gonna make a few alterations." Harry told her closing his eyes and focusing on the morph he had in mind.

The first thing that changed was his height. It only took a few seconds for him to change his height back to his new taller form.

He opened his eyes and smiled as he realized he was now looking down slightly at the 5'8" woman. He watched for her reaction as she studied him closely while he completed his morph, his shoulders growing wider, his arms and legs becoming thicker, and his facial features sharpening. He added the final touch and grew his hair out to just below his shoulders.

Deciding to see what she thought Harry did a quick, but passive Legilimency scan when their eyes met. Not enough to touch any defenses she might have, but enough to get a few quick flashes of her most dominant emotion.

He smirked as he caught a brief glimpse of what he knew to be arousal and then a flood of embarrassment.

Not wanting to be to invasive he stopped his scan and settled for a brief chuckle.

"So what do you think Tonks?" He asked her wondering what she would say.

Tonks was speechless. Before her was a Harry Potter that could easily pass for 18 or 19. He was well muscled, but not excessively so. She could see the way his shirt stretched across his chest that he was very defined, but not overly bulky. It seemed he preferred endurance and speed over sheer brute strength.

"Well what do you think?" Harry asked again with a knowing smile.

"Wow..." Tonks said quietly, before seeming to realize what she had said and immediately tried to cover it up with a cough. "Umm you look fine." She eventually replied.

"Good." Harry replied.

"Why the change?" She asked.

"Well to be honest I don't really feel fifteen." He said moving to grab a transfigured cloak off his couch. "I guess with everything that's happened, fighting Riddle, the chamber of secrets fiasco, not to mention – last year." He sighed. "I just feel old." He told her seriously. "If I had the choice, this is the age I would prefer to be and how I want people to see me. Feels more comfortable, more…real."

This was actually true. He had felt older than his years back when he was really 15 and he knew with complete certainty that if he had known about his metamorph powers then he definitely would have used them.

He was considering making the change permanent; Explaining his reasons now gave him the chance to lay out some ground work.

He didn't know if he could really handle being 15 again. The difference between 15 and 18 might be small, but it felt significant to him.

"Alright I can understand that." Tonks said all trace of humor gone from her voice. He could tell she sympathized with him. "Whenever you're ready, I can side-along you and we can apparate to the Leaky Cauldron's entry point."

Harry thanked her, taking a moment to wave his wand over his clothes to transfigure them into a set of comfortable wizarding robes, and throwing on his cloak. Looking at Tonks to get her opinion, he grinned as she linked arms with him and gave him a playful wink, he gave her arm a squeeze to show his appreciation for her unspoken understanding, and they were off; disappearing with a small crack.

# # #

They reappeared in the Leaky Cauldron and Tonks wasted no time directing Harry to the back entrance and into Diagon Alley. Once through she stopped and looked around as if trying to decide where to go first, but Harry already has plans and tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Tonks I need to go to Gringotts before we go anywhere else. I haven't been since the summer before my third year at Hogwarts. How about I meet you at Florean's in about forty-five minutes?" Harry suggested.

She was reluctant to let him go off on his own, but relented when he mentioned that he needed to talk to the Goblins about his account status and it was unlikely that they would allow her to accompany him anyway.

After agreeing to meet up again at the popular ice cream parlor they split up and went their separate ways. Tonks heading off to take care of some personal shopping and Harry towards Gringotts.

Stepping into the massive building Harry looked around briefly before spotting the only goblin he recognized.

"Well let's hope this works." Harry muttered to himself.

Approaching the goblin's station Harry waited patiently for the goblin to acknowledge him. It didn't take long. Only about 30 seconds passed before the goblin looked up from counting a stack of rubies and stared at the wizard in front of him.

"Yes, what is it?" The goblin asked, obviously annoyed with having to stop his work.

"Hello Griphook. I apologize for interrupting you. I need help and recognized you from my first visit. If it's an inconvenience I can wait until someone else is available." Harry watched as the goblin's eyes seem to widen in surprise before performing the normal quick check of his forehead. Seeing the lightning bolt shaped scar made the goblin stiffen.

"Mr Potter, how may I help you?" Griphook inquired evenly, his tone as polite as a goblin probably ever was to a wizard. Harry was curious about the sudden change, but decided to leave it alone for now.

"Well Griphook, I wanted to get a full accounting of my holdings with Gringotts and was hoping someone could assist me." Harry explained.

"Very well. If you would excuse me for just a moment. I will see if your account manager is available." Griphook told replied. Harry nodded slightly surprised.

 _Since when do I have an account manager?_ He asked himself.

He wasn't forced to wait long. Only five minutes had passed before Griphook came back looking nervous. "If you will please follow me. Director Ragnok has decided to deal with your account personally." He said.

Harry's eyes narrowed a bit, but nodded his acceptance before following the goblin deeper into the bank.

The hallways seemed to go on forever and Harry was starting to doubt that he'd be able to find his way back on his own if he had to when they stopped at a large ornate door guarded by two of the largest goblins he had ever seen.

Most of the goblins Harry had ever seen were short, the tallest reaching about 4 and a ½ feet. These on the other hand were close to his new height, maybe a head smaller – but had more than enough muscle to give him a moment's pause.

"Mr. Potter is here to speak to Chief Ragnok." Griphook said out loud.

Harry couldn't help but get a little nervous when neither of the guards so much as moved an inch in response.

He was just starting to consider thinking up an exit strategy when the doors behind them suddenly swung open, seemingly by themselves, neither of the guards reacting at all.

Griphook walked inside, Harry following close behind trying to appear unaffected. The office itself was massive, almost half the size of the great hall at Hogwarts if Harry had to guess.

It was impressive to say the least. Weapons of all kinds decorated the walls; swords, maces, halberds, and many others he couldn't place. All of them looked to be in pristine condition, as if at a moment's notice they were set to jump off the walls, ready to be wielded in the defense of their owner. Harry blinked for a moment as he saw what he could have sworn was a dust particle being severed in two on the edge of a nasty looking dagger hanging on the wall to his right.

 _Ok now you're just starting to imagine things Potter._

They made it to the center of the room and Griphook immediately bowed his head. "High Chief Ragnok, Mr. Potter – as you requested."

Harry watched as the chair behind the desk turned around to reveal a truly impressive looking goblin. At least two heads taller than Griphook (still smaller than Harry), and rippling with muscle. Bands of what appeared to be gold encircling his biceps, and a deadly looking, yet oddly ceremonial dagger sheathed on his hip.

The goblin said nothing, instead just turned his gaze to Harry for a moment as if trying to get his measure.

Deciding a show of confidence might serve him well, or get him killed, Harry stepped forward he bowed at the waist, opening his hands and spreading them a little away from his body to show that he was unarmed.

He had no idea if he was doing the right thing, but he decided to just to do what _felt_ right. Hopefully they would not take offense and understand his intentions.

"High chief Ragnok. I am Harry Potter. I have to admit that I did not expect to meet with one of your station today." Harry spoke clearly.

The two goblins seemed surprised and looked at each other for a second before Ragnok returned his attention to Harry, who by this point was starting to feel a little tense. Goblins were not to be looked down upon. He had seen them fight in the future when Voldemort had attempted to storm the bank, believing himself to be invincible against those he considered little more than animals.

Many a death eater had died that day and he heard later on that even THINKING about that attack in the Dark Lord's presence was enough to earn a not so quick death.

Voldemort did not take kindly to being reminded of his failures.

Suddenly Ragnok grinned and gestured towards the chair in front of him, urging him to sit. "Welcome Mr. Potter, I have to say I am curious as to why we have not met before?"

"I'm sorry sir, but I was not aware that you had wished to meet with me." Harry tried to explain.

"I am referring, Mr. Potter, to the fact that you did not come in on your 11th birthday to verify your holdings as was laid out in your parents will." Ragnok told him.

"My parents had a will?" Harry asked in a whisper. He could tell right away that this was not the response Ragnok was expecting. The goblins face immediately lost all traces of friendliness.

"Were you not informed of the will reading by your guardian?" Ragnok asked.

"Sir no one's ever said anything about them other than telling me how they died. I know I have a trust vault, but that's all they ever mentioned." He told them. Making sure not to lie outright. The goblins were shrewd and respected ambition, but if they ever caught him in a lie….It would make things much more difficult going forward. "My current guardians are Muggles." He said after a few seconds hoping Ragnok would assume he was confused about the identity of his current magical guardian.

"It would seem to me Mr. Potter that you have not been kept as informed as you should have been." Ragnok stated much to Harry's relief. "Albus Dumbledore is your current 'magical' guardian." The goblin looked at the young wizard for a moment. "Has no one told you anything about your accounts?"

"No sir...wait I'm sorry did you say 'accounts'. I was told that I only had one." Harry replied.

"I have a listing here of your current holdings. Please review them and I will be happy to answer any questions you have when you're finished." He handed Harry a scroll and sat back.

 ** _Account Review_**

 ** _Account Holder: Harry James Potter_**

 ** _Houses to be claimed by blood or inheritance,_**

 ** _House of Potter:_**

 ** _Status: Active – Line Continuance Available_**

 ** _Liquid Assets: 56,034,312 g 15 s 23 k_**

 ** _Property Holdings Associated:_**

 ** _Potter Cottage - Godrics Hollow, Location: secured_**

 ** _Potter Manor, Location: secured_**

 ** _Potter's retreat, Location: secured_**

 ** _# 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey_**

 ** _House of Peverell:_**

 ** _Status: Dormant (Accounts Suspended)_**

 ** _Liquid Assets: 37,117,050 g_**

 ** _Property Holdings:_**

 ** _¼ Ownership: Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry_**

 ** _All property locations listed as secured are accessible through head of house portkey._**

 ** _Total Liquid Assets Equaling:_** ** _93,151,362g 15 s 23k_**

Harry just sat there for a moment, going over the figures in his head. The last time around he hadn't claimed his lordship until his late 40's being unaware of their existence. The goblins had not taken kindly to his riding a dragon through their bank. His accounts had been drained significantly to pay for the damages and the heavy fine they'd hit him with. While he still had enough money to see him set up comfortably for quite some time, he had never truly stopped to consider what he had lost.

It's not like Gringotts had existed much longer as a banking institution anyway. They had officially closed their doors barely a year after he had finally gotten access to his family vault.

"Director what is the current exchange rate for galleons to pounds right now?" Harry asked without looking at the goblin.

"Roughly 5 pounds to a galleon." He said.

"465 million pounds." He did the math in his head.

 _Ok…wasn't expecting that, but let's not let it distract us. I can focus on that later._

Deciding to move on to the next point of business and leave thinking about the rest for a later time, Harry rolled the scroll up and stored it in his robes.

"Director I would like to claim my inheritance at this time." He stated sitting up straight.

"Very well, in order to do that we need you to claim your head of house rights." Ragnok told him with what probably passed as a goblin grin.

Ragnok pulled a small box out of his desk and opened it to reveal two rings inside. Each bearing a family crest.

Harry recognized the potter crest immediately: a wand and sword crossed over a shield.

The Peverell crest was similar; consisting of a shield as well, but instead of a sword the shield was accompanied by three wands positioned to form a triangle.

The rings were both made of gold with the shield of each appearing to be silver.

"Put each on, one at a time, on the same finger and they will provide the rest." Ragnok instructed.

Harry decided to start with the Potter ring. He slipped it on his finger, watching as it resized itself to fit properly. Words seemed to flow into his mind. Compelling him to speak.

"I, Harry James Potter, Hereby Claim Lordship over House Potter as is my right. So Mote it be." The ring glowed white for a moment before the light faded.

Repeating the same process with the Peverell ring Harry once more allowed the words to flow through him.

"I, Harry James Potter, by rights of inheritance and magic, claim lordship of the House of Peverell." The second ring also glowed, but instead of simply fading, the light seemed to spread to the Potter ring and a moment later the metal of the Peverell ring seemed to flow like water as it merged with the other.

"Well." Harry said still staring at the lone remaining ring on his finger. "Director Ragnok, it seems things are changing for me. Would you mind answering a few questions I have and listening to an offer I'd like to make."

"Lord Potter I have some time before my next appointment. Please continue." The elder goblin replied curiously.

"Well let me ask you…would Gringotts be interested in securing a contract for the harvesting and sale of the carcass of a 1,000 year old basilisk?"

The two goblins in the room took a moment to look at each other as if to question whether or not they had heard him correctly before the Director of Gringotts let out a chuckle as he folded his hands on the desk in front of him.

"Lord Potter would you like any refreshments? It seems we have much to discuss."

To be Continued…

 **Translations:**

 ** _Iustorum autem animae quae totamque incestat Pallantias inficit custodes operum lucis. Obsecro, abscondissem me forsitan ab eo vela mortalibus oculis transire. Apparuit coram me dominus Abaddon perditionem._**

 **She who stains the souls of the righteous and defiles the works of the keepers of the light. I beseech you, cross the veils that hide from mortal eyes. Appear before me Abaddon lord of destruction.**

 **Author's Note: Okay everyone that is it for the first chapter. Please let me know what you think. I appreciate all reviews both positive and negative. If I am doing something right it bolsters my confidence if you guys let me know, but on the same token if I'm doing something wrong it helps me grow as a writer if you guys tell me the truth.**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. All characters and plots within were created and are owned by J.K. Rowling. I am simply borrowing them for fun and seek no monetary gain from this. Any original characters or plots are mine.**_

 **Author Notes:** Okay I have to admit I am completely blown away by the response this has gotten. 200+ followers and 30 reviews in a little over a week? That is amazing for someone like me. Thank you all so much.

Please let me know what you guys think of the characterizations. I am really looking for feedback here so if at any point you think a character is acting out of sorts please leave a review and let me know.

Also I will let everyone know now that I will be ignoring the Epilogue of Deathly Hollows completely. To be honest a very large part of me wants to take most everything post OoTP and chuck it out the window. I know some diehard fans will hate me for saying that, but the last 2 books really felt like lazy writing. Which saddened me greatly as up until that point I was a HUGE fan of JK Rowling. I read the ENTIRE 4th book in one sitting without pausing for food or water when I was 14.

So if further down the line I make a change to canon at least now you know why. I don't really plan on doing that, because I want to work within the bounds that I am given otherwise a time travel story loses part of its appeal, but I can make no promises.

 **Chapter 2: Number 12's so Grimm**

 ** _*UPDATED: 12/24/2015*_**

"What the bloody hell took you so long?" Tonks voice surprised Harry as he stepped out of the bank.

The young metamorph was leaning on against a wall near the entrance.

"What do you mean 'so long' Tonks? I was only in there for…" Harry trailed off as he cast a quick tempus charm and saw what time it was.

 _Two hours…_

"Wow I didn't realize I had been in there that long." He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a sheepish look.

Pushing away from the wall she gave him an exaggerated sigh as she shook her head in annoyance.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you that it's rude to keep a girl waiting when you promise to treat her to ice cream?" Tonks asked as they moved down the alley.

Harry looked over and saw the slight grin on her face as she intentionally avoided looking at him..

"I don't remember offering to feed you Nymphadora." Harry turned his gaze away and hid a chuckle with a cough as she missed a step.

Do NOT call me Nymphadora Potter!" Tonks hair turned a bright fire engine red as she glared at him all traces of humor gone from her face.

"Nymphadora Potter…hmm that's kinda catchy that is." Harry glanced at her briefly watching as her face turned bright red to match her hair. Whether it was out of embarrassment or anger was anyone's guess, but he continued walking as if didn't notice. "Now why the anger when it comes to your name? I happen to like it. It's unique. I think it suits you rather well."

His response seemed to throw her for a second, he saw her open her mouth to respond only to clamp it shut as if she had reconsidered. A few moments later her hair slowly shifted back to its "natural" pink.

"I just don't like it, so I would appreciate it if you wouldn't call me that again." She muttered finally.

"Alright, if it bothers you that much, I promise I won't." Harry gave her a quick smile as they arrived at the Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

Walking up to the till Harry quickly placed his order, and then turned to young woman behind him.

"So what'll it be Tonks?"

"I was joking Harry, you don't have to pay." She laughed lightly.

"I know I don't have to, I'm offering." Harry replied.

Seeing that he was serious Tonks grinned mischievously before turning to the girl behind the register. "I'll take the 'Florean's Favorite' please."

The girl's eyes widened for a second before she grinned and submitted the order.

 _Why do I feel like I just lost something?_ Harry thought to himself as he handed over a galleon without looking at the total. He pocketed the change and gestured at Tonks to find a table.

They grabbed an empty one by the entrance, with Tonks sitting down across from him.

"So tell me. How are you doing?" she asked promptly leaning on the table resting her chin in her hand and for once all trace of teasing gone from her voice and eyes.

"I'm fine." Harry replied confused. "Why do you ask?"

"Well given everything that you went through at the end of last term…" She looked around cautiously to make sure no one was within earshot. Fortunately it was a slow day and there were only a handful of people in the parlour at the moment.

"I'm fine to be honest. It was hard not blaming myself for Cedric's death at first, he was a good person, and he didn't deserve to die like that."

"Harry there was nothing you could have done. It's not your fault what happened." Tonks told him seriously.

"I know Tonks, I said I blamed myself "at first" remember." His eyes surprised her, the emerald green turning as hard as the stone they were often compared to. "Voldemort and Petigrew are the ones to blame for his murder and If I have anything to say about it I will make sure they both pay for it." Harry cut himself off as their ice cream arrived.

"Chocolate and Raspberry with chopped nuts." The girl delivering their order stated as she placed Harry's in front of him. "And a Florean's Favorite for you miss."

Harry's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when he saw the bowl in front of Tonks. It was overflowing with what looked like every flavor of ice cream ever invented. All covered in a decent drizzle of hot fudge, caramel and whipped cream.

"Tonks…what is that?" Harry asked as the young auror picked up her spoon and dived in with a passion.

Tonks ignored his question and moaned softly as the first spoonful disappeared into her mouth. Her enjoyment of the treat painfully obvious. Harry could only watch, almost mesmerized, as she pulled the soon back and proceeded to lick it clean clean, her tongue sliding almost gracefully over the silver utensil.

It wasn't until he noticed the spoon had stopped moving halfway to her mouth for her next bite that Harry realized what he was doing.

His eyes drifted up to meet the sharp gaze of the woman he'd been caught staring at.

He quickly cleared his throat and quickly started in on his own dessert.

Tonks watched, highly amused, as Harry devoured half his ice cream in only a few bites.

Thinking back to the words he'd used as he spoke of Voldemort and Pettigrew, she cringed as she remembered his conviction that he would make the two wizards pay.

There had been something dangerous in his eyes for a brief moment. Something she had seen before when talking with the older aurors that had been around during the "First Wizarding War".

That was not a look that belonged on a 15 year old, even one that currently looked to be about 19.

She would deny it if asked, but she'd kind of played up her delight with the ice cream a bit. Aside from trying to distract him from the memories her questioning had brought up, a part of her actually kind of enjoyed teasing him.

She'd felt her face heat up a little when she'd noticed how she'd caught his attention.

She hadn't really thought about what she was doing as she found herself taking a few extra, and quite unnecessary, licks, watching as his eyes followed her tongue as it swirled around her spoon.

 _Merlin mother would kill me if she ever found out I was sitting here flirting with a teenager._ She scolded herself slightly.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the subject of her teasing put down his spoon and cleared his throat.

"Are you finished?" he asked.

Realizing that she'd been lost in thought and only taken a few bites she quickly devoured a few quick mouthfuls before deciding to take the rest of it home.

"Yeah, just let me get the rest to go." She answered as she got up and made her way to the register.

A few minutes and a quick apparition later found them both standing in front of Number 4 Privet Drive.

For some reason Tonks found herself a little – disappointed – that the day was winding down. It was almost time for her replacement to arrive.

"Well, Mundungus Fletcher should be here in the next few minutes to take the night shift. Thanks for the ice cream Mr. Potter." Tonks laughed playfully as they stopped at the front door. "You sure know how to treat a girl." Tonks said as she tried to bop him on the shoulder with her fist.

She was thrown for a loop when he caught her hand before it could make contact and brought it up to his mouth to lay a quick kiss across her knuckles.

"The pleasure was all mine Ms. Tonks. I hope we see each other again soon."

Harry grinned in triumph as he noticed the light rose color that blossomed across her cheeks.

He was happy to see that he was able to get under her skin a bit after having to endure her teasing earlier.

"Good night Tonks." Harry said as he noticed her trying to formulate a response.

Tonks seemed to recover at hearing his words and gave him a glare that he could immediately tell was completely fake.

"Well aren't we feeling a bit cheeky tonight." She accused before quickly turning and walking away. "G'Night!" She yelled back as she lifted a hand to wave to him over her shoulder without looking back.

Harry wasn't entirely sure, but he could have sworn there was a little bit of extra sway in her hips as she walked down the front walkway.

Not that he was looking of course.

# # #

Later that same evening Harry was sitting in his newly furnished apartment idly watching as a silver sickle hovered over his hand slowly spinning as he moved his fingers in slow circles.

His wandless magic was as strong as ever. It was quite the relief for him to see that his precision and overall magical control hadn't suffered at all during the transition.

He'd been afraid that with the change in his reserves that he would have to struggle to properly learn how to channel it again. It appeared that this was not to be the case.

His reserves…that was the largest change he had received besides the foreknowledge his traveling backwards in time had offered.

 _The Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal…_

The part of the prophecy that he believed Dumbledore had overlooked instead choosing to concentrate on 'The Power he knows not" portion.

In his prime he'd been able to exceed Tom Riddle in raw power, who in his own prime was almost half again as strong as Dumbledore. It was the knowledge and experience the dark tosser had possessed that had made fighting him such a nightmare at first.

Even diminished he still had almost three quarters of his old core to call on. Nothing to scoff at compared to most wizards for sure, but he'd have to be careful.

 _If it comes to a straight up fight I should be able to hold my own, but the question is do I want to do so and risk exposing my secret?_

His planning was interrupted as a shiver suddenly ran up his spine.

Taking a deep breath and expelling it, he watched as the air misted up in front of him.

As if the temperature had just suddenly dropped…

 _Bloody hell! I forgot!_

Jumping from his seat Harry immediately ran to the window and saw that the street lights had started to flicker and a dark storm had appeared in the sky over Little Whinging.

 _Stupid! Stupid! Stupid Potter!_ He reprimanded himself. _How could you forgot what day it was!_

August 2nd 1995

The dementors were coming.

The last time they had caught him unawares, out and about with his cousin…

 _Dudley!_

His cousin would be up at the park up the street, completely unaware of the danger that could be headed his way.

Harry had no idea how the dementors had found him the last time. If they had simply been searching the neighborhood and gotten lucky or if they had somehow tracked him down. I truth it didn't matter. If he stayed inside the dementors should be kept out by the blood wards Dumbledore had erected, but there would be no telling what the dementors would do at that point. If they couldn't get to him…

 _There are too many innocent people in the area. If I don't go out there the dementors might decide to snack while waiting for me to show up._

Quickly grabbing his wand he made a snap decision. Taking a half step forwards Harry vanished silently, reappearing next to the swing set he'd spent so much time sitting on the last time through.

"Bloody hell!" He swore as he took in the scene he'd interrupted.

The park was almost empty except for Dudley, his gang of miscreants, and a small boy that couldn't have been more than ten.

The teens had all fallen to their knees and were looking around in fear. They couldn't see the two dementors circling them slowly, coming closer with each pass, but they could definitely feel the aura of fear the creatures projected.

Not knowing what was happening one of the teens that Harry recognized as Peirs Polkiss tried to flee, but immediately stumbled to a halt when one of the dementors swooped down into the teen's path cutting off his escape. Peirs stopped as if he had run into a solid wall. His legs locking up as the dementor's aura of dread and cold overwhelmed him.

"Hey!" Harry screamed hoping to distract the black cloaked demons. "Looking for me!"

The dementor closing in on Peirs turned to towards the new presence and seemed to hesitate. It looked back and forth between them as if unable to decide whether it should complete its mission or feed on the human already in front of it.

Harry didn't give it a chance to make up its mind…If the wraith like creature even had one to begin with.

" _Expecto Patronum_!" He yelled as he thrust out his wand. Prongs bursting out of the tip a tenth of a second later, the massive stag patronus glowing a bright silver as it charged the dementors and sent them off screeching in panic.

Prongs circled the park a few times looking for any other threats before coming to a stop in front of its creator, bobbing its head as if asking for a reward.

Chuckling Harry rubbed the stag between its antlers. It always amused him that the patronus seemed to enjoy the head rub even though all if his research said that the beast was only a projection of positive emotion and shouldn't be capable of any type of actual thought or self-awareness.

Dismissing the guardian, causing it to fade away to nothing, Harry approached the group of terrified children slowly and saw that besides being in a state of shock the group seemed to mostly be okay. Nothing a good night's sleep and a cup of hot chocolate wouldn't cure.

"Harry what were those things?" A shaken voice asked him.

Looking over at his cousin he noticed the boy was staring off in the direction the dementors had fled.

 _Hmm that is interesting._ Harry remarked to himself. _Dudley was able to see them. Could he be a squib?_

"Those were dementors Dud." He replied dismissing the thought. It wasn't important at this point.

"You drove them off?" The large boy responded sounding a bit confused.

"Well yeah. Couldn't let them hurt any of you could I?" Harry ignored the look of surprise on his cousin's face and looked down at the boy's wrist. "You got the time mate?"

Dudley just looked at him for a second before glancing at his watch. "10 past 6…why do you want to know the time?"

"My watch hass been broken for years." Harry answered as he started scanning the skies. "Been meaning to get it fixed."

"Harry what….what are you looking for? Those things ain't gonna come back here are they?" Dudley trailed off as he started watching the skies nervously.

Harry stepped up next to the boy and laid a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry Big-D. Those things won't be back. They're absolutely terrified of the spell I cast. They'll be halfway to London by now."

Dudley and the rest of the teens slowly made their way home after that, leaving Harry alone in the park. Taking a seat on one of the swings Harry kept scanning the skies as he contemplated what would be happening next. If he was right it would only take a few more….there.

Harry stood up as large brown owl floated down from the sky and deposited a letter into his hands. Taking off immediately it was clear the owl was not told to wait for a reply.

Reading the cover of the envelope he could see why. Tearing it open, Harry read it out loud with a chuckle.

 _ **Dear Mr. Potter,**_

 _ **We have received intelligence that you performed the Patronus Charm this evening in a Muggle-inhabited area and in the presence of a Muggle.**_

 _ **The severity of this breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery has resulted in your expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ministry representatives will be calling at your place of residence shortly to destroy your wand.**_

 _ **As you have already received an official warning for a previous offence under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy, we regret to inform you that your presence is required at a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 9 a.m. on the twelfth of August.**_

 _ **Hoping you are well,**_

 _ **Yours sincerely,**_

 _ **Mafalda Hopkirk**_

 _ **Improper Use of Magic Office**_

 _ **Ministry of Magic**_ _ **1**_

"Well that didn't take long." Harry said with a smirk.

# # #

2 1/2 hours later…

Harry was lying on his bed stroking Hedwig's feathers gently. He'd come home to find her perched on her cage and for the first time in years Harry had felt like crying.

Seeing his familiar again after so long brought up so many buried emotions that Harry felt his chest grow tight with the pain.

Now though he was just relaxing, enjoying some quality time with the snowy owl who in many ways had been the first one to ever truly care for him.

He had received Dumbledore's letter, instructing him to stay inside and wait for someone to retrieve him, shortly after he'd finished reading the one from the ministry.

His musing were interrupted by the sound of a plate breaking somewhere downstairs, he smiled as he realized who had caused it. Tonks couldn't be stealthy if her life depended on it.

Sitting up slowly Harry opened his window and placed Hedwig on the sill.

"I'll be flying in a little bit Hedwig. Just follow from a safe distance. I'll see you when we get there, alright girl?" Harry whispered.

Hedwig responded by gently nibbling the finger he'd been using to stroke her head, before hopping out the window and flying away silently.

"Such a smart girl." Harry praised as he set about packing his belongings. A few quick shrinking charms had his trunk filled and stored away in his pocket.

Having already restored his room to its original dimensions Harry waited for his guests to announce themselves.

It didn't take long.

A few seconds passed before he heard the sounds of whispered voices coming from the other side of his door.

"This is the room." Harry immediately recognized Tonks' voice.

"Be quiet girly do you want to give us away." Came the gravely response.

"So says the man making enough noise with his peg leg to wake the whole house." Harry called out loudly enough that they were sure to hear him. He was rewarded with the sound of Tonk's laughter.

The door swung open and Mad Eye Moody stomped into the room his wooden leg making a hollow thump with each step.

"You know you really should silence that thing Professor." Harry greeted him.

"Good to see you're paying attention Potter." Moody replied not bothering to look even slightly sheepish at having been discovered.

"Wotcher Harry!" Tonks sent a wink his way as she followed the grizzled ex-auror into the room.

"Tonks." He gave her a quick nod. Watching as the rest of his escort filed into the room.

"Harry this is…" Tonks started to introduce the people behind her only to be interrupted by Moody.

"Enough chatting. We can't waste time. Potter get your belongings." Moody stated as his magical eyes continued to do sweeps of the room.

"Already done professor." Harry responded patting his pocket.

"You used magic Potter? Are you mad? The Ministry already wants your wand snapped!" Moody hissed.

"It'll be fine professor I've got it covered. Shouldn't we focus on getting out of here?" Harry dismissed the man's concerns.

"Hmmm let's go, we can let Dumbledore handle any fallout." Moody turned and led the group out of the room.

Once outside they lined up on the sidewalk.

"So where are we going?" Harry asked Tonks.

"We'll be taking brooms to Order Headquarters." She replied.

"Shhhhh! Not out in the open Nymphadora!" Moody scolded her looking around to see if anyone had overheard.

The young women turned on the older man, her hair turning bright red as she almost hissed her response enunciating each word forcefully. "Don't. Call. Me. Nymphadora!"

Mad-Eye however seemed immune to her anger as he gave the ground a quick tap with his staff and grabbed the disillusioned broom that had appeared and flown into his waiting hand. The rest of the group catching one as well.

"Now don't break ranks if one of us is….Potter why do you have your wand out?" Moody growled in annoyance.

"Umm…Muggle 'notice me not charm'? You weren't seriously about to have us all fly out over England in full view of the public? I mean really?" Harry rolled his eyes as he tapped his chest with the tip of his glowing wand.

The others looked at him in shock for a moment before reaching for their wands and following suit.

"Nice one mate. It's not often I get to see someone score a point on old Mad-Eye." Tonks bumped his shoulder with hers.

Harry responded with a wink of his own as the rest prepared to take off.

# # #

Flying was something Harry had never grown tired of. The feeling of absolute freedom he felt when soaring through the air was unmatched by anything else he'd ever experienced.

Flying low over the Thames Harry grinned as he felt the cold spray from the river sprinkle his face. He closed his eyes and felt all his muscles relax for just a brief moment.

"Having fun there Harry?" Tonks called to the wizard flying next to her.

"Oh absolutely!" Harry called back without even bothering to open his eyes.

"I hear you're quite the flyer, youngest seeker in a century even." Tonks tone took on a teasing lilt. "Are the rumors true?"

Harry finally opened his eyes and glanced over at the young metamorph.

"Want to find out?"

Tonks stared at him for a second before glancing uncertainly over at Mad-Eye. Looking back at Harry who had not taken his eyes off of her, she tightened her grip on her broom.

"First one to Parliament?" She asked her hair shrinking into short spikes.

"I'll be waiting for you." Harry stated before he took off like a shot. His broom accelerating to its top speed almost instantly.

"Hey that's cheating!" Tonks yelled out as she took off after him.

The two blew past the others not even noticing them in their excitement.

Harry lowered himself until he was completely parallel with the broom pushing it to its max. Glancing behind him he laughed as he saw Tonks nearly collide with Dedalus Diggle, the startled man wobbling for a brief moment before he regained control.

Not wanting to win because he'd managed to get a head start, Harry carefully let off the throttle a bit until Tonks had drawn even with him. He turned his face to look at her and found her watching him in return. They stared at each other for a moment in silence. Harry glanced up ahead and saw a ferry approaching quickly.

Turning back to her he raised his eyebrows in a challenge.

Tonks grinned and together they shot forward racing towards the hull of the ferry. They waited until the very last moment when the ship was only a few feet away before splitting up, each taking a different side of the ship.

Tonks couldn't wipe the grin off her face. It had been a long time since she'd had so much fun.

Clearing the boat Tonks looked over to see if she had managed to take the lead only to frown when she couldn't see her competitor anywhere.

Quickly turning her head she failed to find him on her other side as well. Starting to panic, thinking that maybe he had failed to make the turn around the ferry, Tonks was just about to circle around to look for him when she felt something tap her on the top of the head gently.

Looking up she gaped in surprise at the sight that met her.

Harry "Bloody" Potter hanging upside down from his broom with only his legs wrapped around the handle. His arms crossed over his chest casually as he gave her a jaunty wave.

"Wotcher Tonks. How's it hanging?"

"Potter I swear to Merlin! I'm going to-"

She never got to finish as in the middle of her threat she saw Harry glance away from her only for his eyes to widen in fear.

"Tonks look out!" Harry tried to warn her with a shout.

Quickly turning around Tonks eyes widened as well when she saw the small boat directly in front of her. She desperately pulled up on the broom narrowly avoiding hitting the vessel only to curse loudly as she saw that she was now heading directly towards the support beams of the Westminster Bridge. She tried and get some altitude to avoid a painful collision, but it was too late.

The tip of her broom hit the top of a support beam and was instantly transformed into a midair catapult – throwing her clear across the opposite side of the bridge and toward the river below.

She closed her eyes tight and cringed as she thought about the lecture she was going to get from Mad-Eye because of this.

Taking a deep breath she waited for the impact of the water only to open her eyes in surprise when she felt something wrap around her.

"Wow Tonks. I didn't realize you were as clumsy on a broom as you are on the ground."

Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, was carrying her in his arms bridal style. Once again appearing to be completely at home flying his broom near top speed with only his legs to direct it.

"How…what?" She stuttered before his words hit her. "Damn it Potter put me down!" She demanded in a huff. Only to scream and wrap her arms around his neck as she felt his grip on her loosen.

"Are you sure about that Tonks?" Harry asked teasingly.

Nymphadora Tonks was not one to normally let anyone get the best of her, but for the moment she her mind froze as she struggled to think up a response, one that didn't potentially end up with her taking a very cold swim.

Instead she simply removed her arms from his neck and cross them in front of her, refusing to look at him.

Thinking that maybe he'd gone a little too far Harry let out a sigh and slowed his broom to a crawl.

"Hey I'm sorry Tonks. I was just kidding. Here." Reaching out with his hand Harry cast a wandless summoning charm and caught her broom as it came soaring out of the water and into his outstretched palm.

He turned to look at the auror and saw her staring at him in surprise. Offering her the broom she took it and a moment later was hovering next to him.

"How about we wait for Moody and the others to catch up." Harry offered.

Tonks looked at him as he nervously picked at the wood of his broom handle, for all intents and purpose looking like a 19 year old 1st grader about to be scolded. She tried to ignore the amusement the scene caused to bubble up in her for a moment before giving a sigh of aggravation.

"Merlin you make it hard to stay mad at you Potter." She said trying to sound put out.

His answering smile made it clear that he'd seen right through her.

# # #

The rest of the flight had been slightly awkward. Both Harry and Tonks had been subjected to a lecture on "Operational Protocol" that had lasted the remainder of the trip. To say Moody wasn't impressed with their impromptu race would be an understatement.

His anger had been enough to turn Tonk's hair a limp mousey brown.

Despite that though Harry definitely did not regret it for even a moment. He'd been alone for so long. Spent so much of his last few years focused on beating back Voldemort's forces that the concept of fun and friendship had become almost alien to him.

Having the opportunity to act like a teenager again was a blessing that he was not going to simply ignore.

A quick glance out of the corner of his eye to see the smirk on Tonk's face was enough to convince him that she felt the same.

Landing in a small corpse of trees the party slowly made their way out into the street in front of a nondescript row of old townhouses.

Now that he was standing directly in front of their location Harry stopped as he realized something he hadn't thought of before.

He could still remember Number 12 Grimmauld Place. The fidelius charm was supposed to hide the secret of a location within the soul of the person chosen as the secret keeper. The fact that he could remember the address meant that he was still in on the secret.

"Harry this is…" Kingsley Shacklebolt started to explain, but Harry beat him to it.

"Order headquarters. I imagine it's been cloaked somehow, I'm not feeling any sudden need to go to some random appointment so it's nothing as basic as a normal repelling ward…Fidelius charm perhaps?" Harry enjoyed the look surprise on most of their faces. "Not the best choice." With a shrug of his shoulders.

"The fidelius is the most powerful cloaking spell ever invented Mr. Potter. Even if you knew the exact spot the hidden place was supposed to be you could walk right up to it and never perceive it." Moody stared at Harry as if waiting for him to try and refute his statement.

"Yes that is true professor, but there is no such thing as the 'perfect' spell. Just like there is no such thing as a perfect defense."

"Would you quit calling me that Potter? I never taught you lot a single lesson." The 'older' wizard grumbled.

"Sorry professor." Harry replied innocently with a smile. "But anyways…Magic always has balance. The more powerful the spell, the greater is downside or its cost correct? That is the 'Law of Equivalent Exchange' right professor?"

"Yes potter, I take it you have a point coming soon. We can't be standing out here all night."

"Well let's see….Tonks what is the full name of this order you were speaking of earlier?"

"The Order of the Phoenix." She replied seeing no harm in answering the question.

"Okay and based on those street signs over there," Harry pointed off towards the end of the street, "This should be Grimmauld Place."

"Yes Potter what are you getting at?" Dedalus Diggle asked impatiently.

"Well as I can see the addresses right in front of me go from Number 11 Grimmauld Place directly to Number 13, I can guess that the hidden location is likely Number 12 Grimmauld Place." Harry explained slowly.

Tonks was starting to see what he was implying and sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Harry I see where you're going with this, but it won't work. The Fidelius charm will still prevent you from seeing the hidden location even if you _know_ where it should be." Tonks gave him a sympathetic look.

"You are correct Tonks, but I could care less about the location itself. All I care about is the secret." Turning his back to the townhouses he looked her directly in the eyes. "The secret being: _The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at Number 12 Grimmauld Place_."

The moment he stopped talking the townhouses behind him started to shift. Numbers 11 and 13 being pushed apart as the now named Number 12 slid into sight, accompanied by the disbelieving gasps of all the wizards and witches present.

"Harry did you just….How in the name of Merlin's bloody ball sack did you break the Fidelius charm!?" Tonks hissed.

"I just explained my reasoning Tonks. Weren't you listening?" Harry grinned at the put out auror and turned to make his way to the front door. "Let's get a move on. Can't be standing out here all night can we Moody?"

Shocking everyone even further Mad-eye let out a small bark of laughter and made to follow. "Aye – you're right there laddie." He said as he followed the younger wizard towards the front door, no one else noticing the way his eyes narrowed as he focused intently on the boy-who-lived's back.

The others were quick to get moving as well and within a few moments Harry found himself back in a place he had not stepped foot in for more than eighty years. He felt the memories coming back in a barrage, one after another, almost overwhelming him with their intensity. It was only with the help of his occlumency that he managed to shunt them off to the side.

Looking around at the familiar décor Harry noticed that the Portrait of Sirius' mother was still hanging on the wall with its curtains drawn, hopefully sleeping. He would definitely have to take care of that at some point. Preferably sooner rather than later.

Making his way further inside Harry slowly walked down the long corridor leading to the dining area where he could hear a clamor of raised voices in what appeared to be a heated discussion.

He was just approaching the room when Mad-eye walked by at a brisk pace followed by the rest of his advanced guard.

He watched them go by, getting a quick wink from Tonks as she made her way past him.

Unable to miss an opportunity to tease the goofy young woman Harry smirked at her and pointed his finger towards her feet.

"Mind the troll leg." He stated getting a confused look in return just before she stumbled over the umbrella stand shaped like a 'troll leg' and nearly fell to the floor.

Harry laughed lightly as he walked past. "Every time."

Turning his head away he failed to see her eyebrow twitch or the look of confusion that briefly flit across her face.

Knowing what he would see next, Harry steeled himself as he looked into the room directly ahead of him.

There sitting in a chair facing the door way was the man who had been the closest thing to a father Harry had ever known. Even if it had only been for a few short years.

Sirius Black.

Their eyes met and for a brief moment Harry saw the affection and happiness in Sirius' face – before Molly Weasley made her way out of the room closing the door quickly behind herself and cutting off the reunion before it could even really get started.

"Harry! Oh it's so good to see you my dear." She exclaimed as she pulled him into hug. "Gave us all quite a scare you did."

Suppressing his urge to break free of the suffocating hold the woman had on him, Harry reminded himself that now was not the time to act rashly.

Up until this moment he had been so focused on the big events that would be taking place in the immediate future and the changes he was going to make that he had failed to prepare himself for meeting the Weasleys again.

He had to school his features tightly. Cutting off his initial reactions and forcing himself to act normal.

It would not do to kill the Weasley matriarch here in the hallway.

Barely managing to reign in his anger Harry waited for her to pull away, plastering on a smile when she did so. "Hello Mrs. Weasley, it's great to see you again as well. Where are Ron and the others?"

"They're upstairs dear, first door on the left. Why don't you head on up and join them. Dinner will be served as soon as the meeting's over." She insisted as she motioned to the stairs.

"Sure Mrs. Weasley." Harry turned and made his way up to the second floor.

Stopping in front of the door she had indicated Harry took a breath to get control of himself. He'd been looking forward to this moment since he'd first arrived in the past, but now that he was here, he felt nearly sick to his stomach.

 _What do I say? How do I act?_ Those and about a thousand more questions were blazing through his mind making his hands shake.

"Well are you going to go in or are you trying to stare the wood into submission?" Tonks voice startled him as he whipped around to see that she had followed him up the stairs.

"Tonks what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the meeting?" He asked trying to get his heart rate under control.

"It won't start for a few more minutes yet. I wanted to ask you about how you managed to break through the Fidelius charm. That should have been impossible."

"You're right. It is impossible to 'break' through the charm." He answered her honestly as he turned back to the door. "I didn't break the charm." He explained, placing his hand on the doorknob.

"Hold up a second, I saw it. You said the secret and then the charm let you in. How did you manage to do that?" Tonks demanded in a whisper.

"I didn't." Harry replied opening the door a smirk on his face. "You did."

 _Mischief managed._ He thought to himself in amusement.

Harry walked into the room quickly leaving a gob smacked Tonks to contemplate his words.

He had more important things to focus his attention on. Like the brown haired missile that had launched itself at him the second he'd crossed the threshold.

All the doubts and fears that had been plaguing his mind a minute ago completely vanished; all he could feel was a nearly overwhelming feeling of comfort and joy.

He returned the embrace with as much strength as he could, burying his face into the wavy brown hair of the girl in his arms. Taking a deep breath he almost shuddered as he inhaled the subtle scent of lavender and lilacs.

"Hermione." He spoke her name in an almost worshipful tone. It had been so long.

He felt her arms start to loosen their hold and even though he knew the smart thing to do would be to follow suit, Harry could not care less about doing the smart thing right then. His arms tightened around her even further pulling her body flush against his.

Hermione let out a quiet squeak of surprise and for a moment he was scared she would pull away, but after a brief hesitation he felt her arms squeeze tighter than before as if she could tell he needed the reassurance.

They stood there embracing silently for a bit, unaware of how much time was passing, before they were interrupted by a voice that had Harry nearly reaching for his wand.

"Umm…Harry what's going on mate?" Ron Weasley asked, sounding more than a little confused.

Disengaging from the hug Harry took a step back to take a look at the girl he had come back in time for more than any other.

 _How could I not see how beautiful she was…is?_ He corrected himself. The sight and feel of her completely catching him off guard.

Hermione Granger would be the first one to call herself plain, but despite what she thought, Harry could not help but allow his eyes to drift across her form.

She was surprisingly fit for someone who spent as much time as she did in the library.

He remembered what she had felt like pressed up against him during their hug. The girl definitely had curves. His face started to feel a little hot as he looked up to her face and saw the slight blush there.

She had noticed his perusal.

Giving her an apologetic smile Harry turned to face the red head that had interrupted them.

"Hello Ron." Harry's voice, while not ice cold, was definitely enough to cause the ginger to shiver.

Brushing off the sudden uncomfortable feeling he was getting from his best mate as just his imagination playing tricks on him Ron took a step forward with his hand outstretched.

Harry stepped towards him in return, subtly brushing his hand across Hermione's shoulder as he stepped around her, placing himself almost directly between the two.

Grasping the boys outstretched hand with a little more force than was necessary Harry forced a grin.

"How's it going mate?" Harry asked his voice slightly warmer than before. He took the time to consciously force his body to relax.

"Not bad. We've been stuck here most of the bloody summer." Ron smiled back.

"Harry I'v…we've been worried sick!" Hermione interrupted as she stepped around him to so she could see his face again. "We heard about the dementors, Dumbledore was furious. There's no way they can expel you. I've been researching the relevant sections of the statute of secrecy all evening."

"It'll be fine Hermione. I'll handle it." He tried to reassure her with a smile.

"Harry you don't seem as worried as I thought you'd be and…have you been working out?" Hermione seeming to finally take notice of the changes he'd made the other day.

"A bit." Harry answered briefly.

"A bit…Harry it's been a little over a month…How could you…" The brightest witch of her age didn't seem to be buying the excuse.

"There are tons of potions that can help." Tonks spoke up from the doorway.

Harry turned to give her a grateful look. She gave him a quick wink as if to say "Your Welcome".

"I'm going to leave you all to catch up. I need to head down to the meeting." The metamorph explained as she turned away only to stop short at Harry's quick reply.

"I'll join you."

"Harry mate the order won't let any of us attend their meetings." Ron tried to explain.

"Doesn't matter. They can try to kick me out if they want." Harry replied.

"Harry what's going on?" Hermione sounded a little unsure, causing Harry to look at her, his eyes softening.

"The order was re-assembled to combat Voldemort right?" Harry asked causing Ron to let out a small 'squeak' at hearing the dark lord's name spoken out loud. "How many of the people in that room have dueled him? How many of them have looked him in the eye while he was throwing the cruciatus at them?"

He looked at Tonks again not giving either of them time to answer.

"I think that more than qualifies me to sit in on a meeting. What do you think?"

Tonks looked at him for a second before giving a shrug of her shoulders as if the question was above her pay grade.

"Well let's go then. Don't want to be late." The women said before she turned and walked away not bothering to check to see if he was following.

Harry turned to look at Hermione again, her confusion plain to see.

"I'll be right back. We can talk later." Harry told her hoping that she would accept that much for the time being.

It seemed to work. Her eyebrow went up and Harry could swear a small voice in the back of his mind sounding just like his best friend let him know in no uncertain terms that he would be explaining EVERYTHING later.

Giving her a quick nod to the unspoken command he left the room, quickly catching up to Tonks as she was making her way down the stairs.

"You really want to do this Harry?" The woman asked. Letting him know that she was slightly more concerned about his plan than she had let on in front of his friends.

"Don't worry Tonks…I just have some things that need to be said."

# # #

"If it wasn't for Harry we wouldn't even know Voldemort was back!" Sirius protested. "More than anyone he deserves to know the truth!"

"I'll not have it Sirius!" Molly chimed in looking scandalized. "He's only a boy–" Cutting off her rant as the door to the room swung open.

"Wotcher all." Tonks greeted loudly as she entered the room.

"You're late Tonks, where have you – Harry!" Molly nearly shouted as she saw who had entered the room behind Tonks. "Harry dear, the meeting will be over in just a few minutes so if you could just step outside for a bit while we finish up – "

"I'm afraid I can't do that Molly." Harry told her as he shut the door behind himself.

"Excuse me? Harry I really must insist – ".

"You can insist all you like, but it's not going to change anything." Harry interrupted her again causing her to gape at him for a moment before the tops of her ears started to turn a bright red.

"Harry Potter I will not have you speaking to me in such a tone!" She scolded.

"Then I suggest you stop stalking so I'm not tempted to continue doing so." Harry told her sharply. His tone taking on a seriousness that actually caused her to close her mouth in shock. "Good now let me make one thing very clear to everyone present."

Harry looked around the room taking note of all that were in attendance.

Snape was standing in the corner with his arms crossed looking very torn.

Harry could just imagine what was going through the potion master's head.

 _Should he be amused that someone had finally managed to put the overbearing woman in her place or angry that the one who had accomplished the incredible feat was a Potter?_

It only took a few moments before Snape seemed to make up his mind as his face once more fell into a mask of indifference. It would appear he had decided to do neither and instead would just continue using his normal scowl to keep everyone else from talking to him.

Tonks was standing close by studying a mark on the wall to hide the fact that she was silently snickering.

Remus Lupin was silently watching events unfold, but the twinkle in his eyes showed that he too was amused by the exchange. Harry felt equal parts irritation and happiness at seeing the werewolf again.

Sirius had a rather proud look on his face, openly smiling at his godson.

And Moody was eyeing him critically as if he was a puzzle that needed to be figured out.

 _Probably still going over how I_ 'broke' _through the Fidelius so easily_.

The rest of the room was showing varying degrees of shock and surprise.

"This property belongs to my godfather." Harry continued from where he had left off. "As such, his is the only opinion I will listen to when it comes to where I can or cannot be in this house."

"Harry I know she might have come off a little short, but Molly is only trying to protect you." Arthur Weasley spoke up in defense of his wife, even if, by the hesitant way in which he spoke, it sounded more like it was out of obligation than actual belief.

"I understand that Arthur, but as she is not my guardian nor are we at the burrow, she was out of line trying to tell me what I can and cannot do in my godfather's home." Harry replied calmly.

Harry then addressed the room at large.

"Tell me, with the exception of Snape here, who in this room has ever stood in the presence of Voldemort?" Harry looked around. "Show of hands?"

When no one moved Harry continued.

"Okay let's try another one, again besides Snape, who here has been tortured by the self-proclaimed Dark Lord?"

Again no one moved.

"Okay one more question – just one." He paused to make eye contact with Molly. "Who here has dueled with the Dark Tosser?"

Seeing that no one else was making any comments Harry raised his hand almost causally.

"I've done all three." He put his hand down and moved to an empty chair to take a seat. "So I would ask politely that you all take a moment and actually think about what I just said before trying to tell me that I'm not old enough to know what is going on."

Everyone looked around at each other, not quite sure how to respond.

Shacklebolt, who had been standing next to Tonks for the entire scene leaned over to the metamorph.

"Whatever else there is to say, you have to admit, Potter has style."

Tonks didn't take her eyes off the raven haired wizard sitting at the table.

"Merlin that was hot." It wasn't until the older Auror chuckled that she realized what she had just said. She immediately covered her face with her hand embarrassed that her senior had caught her so off guard. In response there was only one thing she could say to try and save face.

"Shut up."

To Be Continued….

1 Excerpt taken from the published book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with a slight alteration to the time stated.

 **Ending Author's Note:**

 **So here we go folks. Second chapter is up. Get Ready. Get Set. REVIEW!**

 **Let me know what you guys think. Anything you liked? Anything you disliked? Am I a horrible person who should not be allowed to own a computer?**

 **To those of you who offered to beta please don't take offense that I have not replied. I will be doing so shortly. I simply got so caught up in my excitement to write this chapter that I filed away your PMs and forget to write back. I apologize for that. I will be going to sleep right after I post this as it is currently 30 minutes past midnight where I live.**

 **Status of ALL other stories:**

 ** _Wings of Olympus:_** **Still working on it. About 25% through chapter 3. All my inspiration has been for my other stories recently so I will be focusing on those for a tiny bit. Please be patient.**

 ** _Guardians of Akasha:_** **About 35% through the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. All characters and plots within were created and are owned by J.K. Rowling. I am simply borrowing them for fun and seek no monetary gain from this. Any original characters or plots are mine.**_

 _ **Authors Note:**_ _Okay first off I'll address a concern that A LOT of you have been commenting on. Harry greeting Tonks how he did well before he was supposed to have met her. I promise this was not a plot hole like many of you may have thought. I actually intended for this to be a plot point later on, but given how it seemed to be annoying you all so much I have decided to address it…a little in this chapter._

 _Please let me know what you guys think._

 _And to those of you that asked about Remus/Tonks…no not in this story._

 _I'll go more on depth with Harry's thoughts regarding this eventually, but I hope you can all be patient until I do. I'm trying to avoid using the classic "Info Dump" method of getting my characters motives and thoughts across. It's only the third chapter of what will most likely be a 50+ chapter story. I promise I'll get there in time._

 _I have been on a small little mini vacation the last three days which is why I managed to pump out 2 chapters in such a short time, but starting tomorrow I'll be back at work, so more than likely I will be going back to my planned schedule of one chapter a week._

 _Here's the next chapter…Enjoy!_

 **Chapter 3: Keep My Hands to Myself**

 ** _*UPDATED: 12/24/2015*_**

 _ **August 2**_ _ **nd**_ _ **1995**_

 _ **11:30pm**_

 _Well that was a waste of a perfectly good speech._ Harry thought as he languished on the large four post bed in one of the larger guest rooms.

Mrs. Weasley had tried once again to dictate the sleeping arrangements, but was disappointed when Harry asked why they were sharing in the first place when there were more than enough rooms on the 3rd floor for all of them to have separate sleeping quarters.

Remus had pointed out that those rooms had not been inspected yet and could possibly be dangerous to sleep in.

Harry had acknowledged the point, but a quick conversation with Sirius had the situation resolved.

 _ **Flashback [start]**_

"Dobby?" Harry called out.

Almost instantly the small house elf appeared nearly bouncing with excitement.

"The great Harry Potter calls for Dobby?" The elf asked rocking back and forth on his feet. "How can Dobby bees helping the great wizard Harry Potter?"

Harry smiled as he got down on one knee in front of the enthusiastic little house elf.

"Hello Dobby it is good to see you again my friend."

The tears that bloomed in the elf's eyes would have worried Harry if he hadn't been expecting it.

"The great Harry Potter sir calls Dobby friend?" The elf whispered in awe.

"Of course I do Dobby. Don't you remember? You saved my life only a few years ago." Harry reached out and placed his hand on the elf's shoulder. "If it hadn't been for you Lucius would have killed me."

The elf looked almost sheepish, tracing a crack in the floor with his toe.

"I have a request to make of you Dobby." Harry informed the elf.

"A request! Dobby would be delighted to help Mr. Harry Potter!" Dobby replied, this time there was no "nearly" about it. The little house elf was bouncing in place so fast his long ears looked like wings flapping in the wind.

Harry chuckled at the quick change in his small friend.

"Before I name the request, I must ask you a question." Harry tried to calm the house elf down.

Dobby stopped bouncing, instead nodding his head so hard Harry was worried he would give himself a concussion.

"Would you like to bond with me?" Harry's question shocked the whole room into silence.

A wide eyed Dobby looked to be in a bit of a stupor.

"Did…Harry Pot-Pot-Potter just ask Dobby to be he's house elf?" The house elf asked, stumbling over his words, his disbelief obvious.

"Yes Dobby. I will be having need of a house elf in the future and I can't think of anyone else I would want to take care of my family." Harry's smile seemed to snap the elf out his surprised state.

"Of course sirs! Dobby would be honored to Serves the Great Harry Potter!"

"Thank you Dobby." Harry said patting the shoulder he was holding before removing his hand. "How does the bonding work?"

"Mr. Harry Potter just has to be offering the request, House Elves magic will be doing the rest sirs."

"Well let's see…how about this; I, Harry James Potter, do hereby offer a bond of friendship and family to the house elf Dobby, on behalf of the House of Potter till a time when either party should wish the bond severed." Harry intoned as formally as possible.

Dobby stood as straight as possible as he listened to the words.

"I's, Dobby the house elf, accept and promises to always serve Dobby's family with honor and to always keep master's secrets." The little house elf bowed at the waist as he made his oath.

"Then with the acceptance of this oath, so mote it be." Harry finalized the oath with the customary words and almost immediately a bright glow surrounded both t wizard and house elf briefly before fading away.

"The bond being complete Master Harry." Dobby told him.

Harry considered asking Dobby not to refer to him as master, but looking at how proud his friend appeared to say the words he didn't have the heart to say anything.

"Ok Dobby I have already asked my godfather's permission. Please do me a favor and get started cleaning out this house. We need all cursed objects removed and placed in the office next to the library, please secure the door so NO ONE including elves may enter without Sirius's or my permission. Once that's finished all pests and dangerous infestations should be removed. Please start with the third floor guest wing."

"Right away Master Harry." Dobby replied eagerly.

"Once you are done with the guest wing please report to me before continuing with the rest of the house. If the Black Family elf gives you any trouble let me or Sirius know okay." Harry watched as the new Potter elf nodded before disappearing with a snap of his fingers.

 _ **Flashback [end]**_

Dobby had done a fantastic job. In less than 30 minutes he had cleaned out the entire 3rd floor and made sure all the bedrooms were ready for guests.

Harry had thanked his friend and given him further instructions.

He asked Dobby to stay out of the Black Family library. Harry wasn't sure what cursed books might be in there, but he wanted to take a look himself before they were disposed of.

And finally, he instructed Dobby to keep an eye out for an old silver locket embellished with a serpent in the shape of an "S". He was very specific to tell Dobby not to touch it, but to inform Harry as soon as it was found, but only when Harry was alone.

 _We can't afford to have it stolen again. I'll have to figure out a way to talk to Kreecher into letting me have it without alerting the entire order._ He thought to himself. _How in Merlin's beard would I be able to explain knowing about it without compromising my secret?_

That question was what had triggered this time of self-reflection.

He had been dangerously cavalier with his attitude earlier in the meeting. All the emotions and memories being thrown at him in the last day had left him feeling disoriented and had compromised his self-control.

Luckily he hadn't done or said anything that couldn't be explained with a little clever wordplay.

He'd definitely raised a few eyebrows with his Fidelius prank, enough so that it had gotten the attention of Mad-eye Moody. He would have to be more careful from now on.

If that wasn't bad enough he'd also allowed his anger at the Weasleys to influence his actions.

How much was he willing to show them? He was not the naïve little teenager they were all expecting. A lot of his "changes" in personality could be attributed to the trauma he'd suffered during Voldemort's recent resurrection. If he wanted to play it that way.

Should he tone it down a bit? Follow along with what he knew was going to happen…maybe try and act more like the Harry Potter they were expecting?

….

 _Absolutely Not!_ Harry's mind screamed.

He was not going to pretend to be someone he wasn't just to avoid uncomfortable questions.

His occlumency barriers were strong enough to protect his secret and besides outright telling them that he was from the future, what else could he possibly have to worry about?

The only means of time travel the wizarding world was familiar with was the time turner. The furthest those could take their bearers back was five hours and they had to recharge the same number hours they turned back before they could be used again. Thereby making consecutive trips was impossible.

The worst thing they could think was that his knowledge was some form of divination and Harry almost laughed at the thought of the wizarding world believing him to be a True Seer.

 _I've already prepared an excuse to explain my new skills if pressed._

He'd taken a little trip down to the Potter family vault after his talk with Director Ragnok. It had been very fruitful.

 ***Knock Knock***

 _Who could that possibly be at this hour?_

Getting up from the bed Harry walked over to the door and slowly opened it a crack.

"Hermione?" Harry asked a little surprised.

"Hey Harry. Can we talk?" His "formerly" bushy haired friend asked in a whisper.

"Sure." Harry stepped back and let the girl in before closing the door and hitting it with a quick silencing and imperturbable charm.

He turned to see Hermione standing next to his bed wringing her hands. Harry walked closer, placing his wand on the bedside table and taking a seat on the mattress.

"Hermione what's wrong?" Harry asked eyeing the anxious girl.

"Well I had a few questions…and you said we could talk later." She answered while pacing back and forth next to the bed.

Harry smiled as he watched her work herself up into a fit.

"Hermione come sit down, before you wear a hole in my floor." Harry stated gently patting the blanket next to him.

Hermione froze for a second looking at the mattress hesitantly before releasing a sigh and doing so.

"Okay so what did you want to know?" Harry asked. Bracing himself for a tidal wave of questions.

It was a good thing he did.

"Harry what has happened to you!? Why do you look like you suddenly aged 4 years in only a month? How did you break the fidelius charm? Why did you say all those things to Mrs. Weasley? Not that I don't think you were right, but you've always looked at the Weasley's like family! You've been acting so out of character…" The young witch had taken to gesturing with her hands in her excitement.

"Breathe Hermione!" Harry ordered sharply.

The sudden command seemed to snap her back to reality as she took in a deep breath almost violently before letting it all out slowly, bringing herself back under control.

Harry treated her to a wide smile that forced a chuckle out of her.

"Sorry Harry. I've been holding that in all night and it all kind of just came tumbling out at once." She explained sheepishly.

"Don't worry, I figured that would happen, it's why I asked you to sit down." Harry smirked at the confused expression his reply earned him. "I didn't want to chance you passing out because of oxygen deprivation."

Hermione scowled for a second before sighing and deciding getting her answers was more important than her best friend's ability to judge her reactions so well.

"Start talking Potter."

"Okay let's start at the top." He replied. "First the sudden growth spurt?" He saw her nod. "I'm a metamorph."

That was not what she was expecting if the way her mouth was hanging open was any indication.

"But Harry…that's impossible! I've known you since you were eleven! I've never seen you show any indication that you were a metamorphmagus."

Harry was ready for that point.

"Actually you have…tell me Hermione, How many times have you seen me cut my hair?" He asked.

That confused her for a second.

"I mean have you ever seen my hair grow longer than it usually is?"

"Well no I guess never really put much thought into it but…."

"My hair has always been the same length since before 1st year. I never really thought about why I never needed to get my hair trimmed. It just always tended to stay the same length."

Hermione looked at him for a moment before accepting that answer.

"So what, you just came into your powers this summer and decided to make a few "small" changes?" She asked confused.

"Well I guess I…" Harry tried to respond.

"I mean don't get me wrong, I think you look great, I mean better than great actually..." She trailed off as she looked over his new form her eyes lingering on his chest and stomach, her cheeks darkening slightly. Quickly pulling herself together she finished her thought. "But why the older look?"

"Credibility." Harry stated.

"Credibility?" Hermione repeated.

"Yeah, people are going to be looking at me a lot in the near future. There are some things that I've discovered about myself beyond the situation with Voldemort that are going to cause some waves and if people see a kid when they look at me it'll be a struggle to get them to listen." His explanation came out with conviction.

"I guess I can understand that, but is that all?" She asked.

"Well to be completely honest I just feel more comfortable like this. This feels more like the real me." He figured he owed her a little bit of honesty.

Hermione looked at him for a second before leaning forward and pulling him into a 'Hermy Hug'. Her arms wrapping around his neck and squeezing almost to the point of suffocation. It was something he had dearly missed and had thought he would never get the chance to experience again.

"Well I for one think it suits you." She said as she pulled away.

"Thanks Hermione." Harry said with real gratitude.

She waited a few seconds as he unconsciously rubbed the back of his neck, before deciding it was time to move on.

"Okay so next question…" She prompted.

"Right, Fidelius Charm?" He asked. "How do you even know about that by the way?"

Hermione actually looked slightly embarrassed for a second.

"I..uhh..I might have overheard Dedalus Diggle talking about it after the meeting." She confessed.

Harry decided not to tease her about the habit of eavesdropping she seemed to be developing.

 _Maybe later…_

"Well the answer is actually…I didn't break the charm." He told her.

"But I heard them saying that you figured out the secret and as soon as you said it out loud the charm lifted and allowed you inside." Hermione was quick to refute.

"The Fidelius Charm is not as fool proof as people believe Hermione. Tell me, when they revealed the secret to you, did they have you speak the secret out loud?" He asked.

"No they had me memorize the secret from a piece of paper and then told me to think about what I had just read." She answered.

"There you go." Harry answered smugly.

"Wait what…What do you mean there you go?" She asked confused. "How did you get passed the charm?"

"Hermione If I was to say to you the secret is 'A big pink elephant', what would your mind do?" Harry watched as she started thinking about his question.

"It would start picturing a big pink…Oh Merlin!" She exclaimed the last part in disbelief.

"Nope Harry Potter, but the resemblance is uncanny." Harry teased.

"Harry you defeated the Fidelius Charm, by forcing people already in on the secret to think about the secret in a way that triggered the charm?" Hermione almost seemed dazed at the very thought.

"Pretty much." Harry's response seemed to spark something inside her. He was very confused when she suddenly broke out laughing.

"Harry you…" she choked out while laughing, "…you just pranked everyone in the order with a partial example of _Ironic Process Theory_!?" Harry gave a small bow in reply.

"Well not that I knew that before now, but sure why not." His statement seemed to set her off again and for a few minutes Harry just sat back and let himself enjoy the sound of her laughter.

"Harry that was pretty clever, but there's still something I don't understand." Hermione said once she had managed to get control of herself.

"And what's that?" Harry asked even though he was pretty sure he knew what was coming.

"In order for that prank to have worked you would have had to already have known the secret.

Harry couldn't stop the feeling of warmth that blossomed in his chest when she pointed out the simple flaw in his explanation. He's always known Hermione was brilliant. Her mind constantly analyzing everything, using logic and her near eidetic memory to sort through all the information she'd ever come across and find patterns and explanations most would miss.

"You are absolutely correct." Harry told her with a proud smile.

"But how – ". She tried to ask, but was caught off when Harry reached forward and took her hand.

He had spent so long mourning her loss that he felt an almost pathological need to touch her and make sure she was still real and not a figment of his imagination. Harry looked at her for a moment silently debating what he was going to say.

"Harry what is it?" She asked confused.

 _Was there ever going to be another choice?_ He thought to himself. Lying to her was never going to be an option.

"Hermione I can't tell you how I knew the secret right now." Harry tried to explain.

"Harry you can trust me." She insisted.

"I know I can Mione. It's not a matter of trust. Something has…happened recently, too me." Harry confessed. "I want to tell you, but there are ways of stealing information from people's minds, and this secret CANNOT fall into the wrong hands under any circumstances."

Hermione just looked at him for a moment, the urge to know everything clearly at war with her trust in him.

…Her trust in him would always win.

"Well then how do I make it safe enough for you to tell me?" She asked getting right to the point.

The soft smile he gave her in response to her answer surprised her. His expression so full of affection that it almost made her start fidgeting.

She felt her face warm up as she coughed lightly to try and cover up her reaction to the look he was giving her.

"There is a branch of Mind Magics called Occlumency that is meant to allow someone to shield their thoughts and minds from external invaders." Harry explained. "I can teach you, if you'll let me?"

"How do you know to do that though Harry? Mind Magics are a beyond Newt level….Information about them is restricted by the ministry. The Hogwarts restricted section barely mentions anything having to do with them."

"Well in order to answer that I need to tell you something else first." He explained.

He waited for her to nod before continuing.

"I went to Gringotts earlier and claimed my inheritance." He revealed.

"Your inheritance?" She asked.

Harry lifted his hand up for her to see and willed the Potter Family Signet Ring to show itself. Her gasp let him know that she recognized the significance of having such a ring.

"I am now Lord Harold Potter of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter and as of the moment I put on this ring…an adult in the eyes of Gringotts and, by their own laws, the ministry of magic."

Hermione sat back stunned by this piece of information. Harry decided to just get all the revelations out of the way in one go.

"Having said that, the answer to your question of 'How did I know about Occlumency?', is by reading this." Harry grabbed his left sleeve and rolled it up all the way to the elbow. Sitting there on the inside of his wrist Hermione saw a small grouping of runes that looked like they had been tattooed into his skin. Lightly touching the runes with his index finger they started to shimmer faintly.

Hermione let out a small gasp as Harry proceeded to reach INTO his arm, all the way, until his entire hand and half of his wrist had disappeared into the rune. Showing no discomfort at all Harry appeared to be concentrating, and a few seconds later he grinned in triumph.

"There it is." He said.

Pulling his hand out Hermione was astonished to see he was grasping a large leather bound volume about the size of her copy of Hogwarts A History.

"Harry how did you – " She whispered.

"Dimensional storage array slaved to an intent based summoning rune modifier." Harry explained as if it was the simplest idea in the world.

Harry was too busy paying attention to the book he had just pulled out of "rune storage" to notice the impact his words had had on the witch hailed as the smartest of her generation.

It was the sound of heavy breathing that finally caught his attention. He looked up only to flinch in surprise when he noticed that Hermione had moved across the bed and was now less than foot away from him, her upper body leaning closer still trying to get a closer look at the runes on his wrist.

"Umm Hermione what –"

"Absolutely brilliant…the rune work is so complicated, but at the same time so simple." Hermione had at this point gently grabbed his wrist and turned it over so she could get a better look. "And look at the way the rune matrix is aligned – the storage rune pulls its power from an absorption sigil set to – absorb and store ambient magic. I see, it keeps the rune from pulling directly from your core. By using the ambient magic around you as its primary source of energy unless you happen to be in an area devoid of magic. But what about – ohhh a back-up blood based connection line that allows it pull power directly from you in case of an emergency and doubles as a security limiter that only allows you to activate it….."

Harry was transfixed as he listened to her deconstruct the rune on his arm from less than hands width away. Her eyes had dilated and her breathing had become erratic. He could see that the color in her cheeks had taken on a crimson blush.

 _Is she…aroused? By a rune?_ The bespectacled time traveler was completely thrown by this new facet of his best friend. He had always known she loved to learn, but….wow. He could feel himself starting to react to her proximity and had just enough rational thought left to realize that he needed to get some distance. IMMEDITELY.

"Umm Hermione are you okay?"

The sound of his voice seemed to get her attention. She looked up into his eyes blankly for a moment before the lack of space between them seemed to register and brought her back from the rune induced trance she'd fallen into. Harry could see the moment she realized how close they were and that she was practically hovering over him on her hands and knees.

She shot backwards so fast Harry would have thought she'd apparated if it wasn't for the lack of the distinctive apparition "crack".

"Ummm…I…Sorry about that I was just –"

"So excited by my storage rune that you couldn't control your curiosity?" Harry asked letting her off easy.

Hermione tried to hide her face in her hands as she mumbled an apology.

Harry just laughed it off, something she joined in on even if he could tell she was still slightly embarrassed.

"So what is that book you pulled out?" Hermione asked desperate to focus on something else.

"This is the book that taught me about the occlumency, and a whole host of other things." Harry held the book up for her to see.

The book itself looked hand bound. Its cover a soft black leather. Embossed on the cover, a coat of arms under the words. _cum conlegisti Voluntatis et aperto corde_.

"With an unbending will and an open heart." Hermione translated.

"My family's moto." Harry provided.

"The Potter family motto?" Hermione touched the book gently. "Harry what is this?"

"The Potter Family Grimoire." Harry told her his voice seeming to echo off the walls of the room.

Hermione sucked in a breath at hearing those words. She knew the significance of what he was showing her. A family grimoire was the compiled and sum total of a family's magical knowledge. The Potter family was one of the oldest in Britain. The Potter name dating back to around the founding of the Wizard's Council, the governing body that existed before the Ministry of Magic. The genealogy book she had discovered in the Hogwarts library had hinted that their surname might have changed at some point in the past and their magical ancestry might predate even the founders of Hogwarts.

This Grimoire might contain spells created in the time when Merlin was still advising King Arthur and fighting against Morgan Le Fay.

"May I?" She asked hesitantly.

"Feel free." Harry said as he handed her the book.

She took it into her hands almost reverently. Cradling the book as one would a newborn. She inspected it from all angles. The leather was soft and supple, but well made. The binding was some kind of thread she didn't recognize.

She took a deep breath and slowly opened it to the first page.

Only to stare dumbfounded at the shapes and swirls of a language she couldn't recognize let alone begin to translate.

"Harry can you read this?" She asked showing him the page.

"Yeah the penmanship is a little spotty, but don't worry it's all legible." He told her.

"Harry I can't make heads or tails of this." She said as she handed the book back to him disappointed.

"What, but….Oh." Harry shoulders drooped. "So that's what that meant."

"What?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"Here on the inside front cover. There's a line here. 'Only blood or bonds of magic shall perceive the truth.'" Harry translated.

"So it's enchanted to only reveal its contents to members of the Potter family." Hermione guessed. "Makes sense I suppose."

"I'm sorry Hermione." Harry apologized.

"It's okay Harry. I'm just happy to have gotten to see a family grimoire. Most old families keep these locked away."

"I found it in the Potter Family vault when I visited Gringotts. It's where I got the runes." He offered her a smile.

Dismissing her disappointment, Hermione smiled and started asking as many questions as she could.

They spent the next several minutes discussing some of the things Harry had read about in the Grimoire with Hermione wrangling a promise out of him to share any new esoteric spells he happened to find in the future. Harry agreed without too much trouble.

He figured it was the least he could do.

Slipping the book back into his rune storage Harry looked at her and the last question she had asked him sprang to mind.

His hostility towards Molly Weasley.

Harry thought about telling her a part of the truth. Maybe outlining some of the pieces he'd put together over the years that pointed to Ron and Molly's intentions to steal his inheritance, but decided against it for now. He didn't want to get into the habit of telling half-truths with her. He would explain all of it later once she had managed to master enough occlumency to stop someone from stealing thei secrets.

Faking a yawn was all it took in the end to distract her from the topic. Hermione took one look at the time and decided they should both get to bed. Picking up his wand again Harry escorted her to the door, flicking his wand to dispel the charms he'd placed on it.

"Goodnight Hermione." Harry said, surprising the witch with an impromptu hug. He had never been one to initiate physical contact in the past, something he had decided to fix when it came to the people closest to him. The embrace lasted a little longer than could be considered normal for a casual hug between friends.

"Goodnight Harry." Hermione replied. The new height difference between them becoming even more obvious as she gently rested her head on his shoulder. Something that would have been a little awkward to try just 2 months ago. She stood there for a few seconds just enjoying the feeling of his arms around her.

Harry had always made her feel safe. His presence fortifying her confidence in almost any situation since she knew he would always stand in the way of anyone trying to hurt her. Not that she thought it was something exclusive to her alone. Protecting those he cared about was a fundamental part of who he was. It was something she had always secretly enjoyed, but never thought too much about. That feeling was coming out in spades now and Hermione took a moment to bask in it. Knowing that she had to eventually get some sleep she gave herself a few seconds to enjoy the feeling of comfort he provided before they would have to go their separate ways.

Giving him one more squeeze she stepped back out of the embrace. Smiling as his hands trailed across her shoulders as if reluctant to let her go.

"Night." He offered as he opened the door for her.

With one more smile she turned and made her way down the hall and into her own room.

Harry stood there a little while longer just gazing at her door. Before sighing.

"Did you have something to say or were you just planning to stand there and observe me all night." He asked out loud.

A muffled snort came from a shadow further down the hall.

Tonks stepped out into the low lighting, smirking at him.

"I was just on my way to bed when I saw Ms. Granger exiting your room." She said, her eyes lighting up with mischief. "A little midnight rendezvous Mr. Potter? What would Molly say?"

"Not that it would be any of her business regardless, but we were just catching up. We haven't had a chance to talk since the end of last term." He replied, ignoring her teasing.

"Oh so that's what you two were doing behind closed doors this late at night." Tonks commented, "What a shame…and here I thought you were up to something…a little more fun."

"Sorry to disappoint Tonks, but you'll have to get your vicarious thrills elsewhere." Harry yawned for real this time.

"Oh you're no fun." Tonks pouted.

"Story of my life." Harry said as if it pained him causing Tonks to laugh lightly in response.

"Well I hope that changes soon, but for now I'll let you get some sleep." Her teasing tone disappearing as she turned to walk away. "Night Harry."

Watching his fellow metamorph walk away Harry couldn't help but admire her confidence.

"I hope so too Tonks. I really do."

# # #

Tonks leaned back into her bedroom door as soon as she had closed it behind her, the smile she'd been wearing slipping from her face reluctantly.

 _What is your secret?_

The image she'd built up of Harry Potter in her head from all the talk she'd heard from The Order was nothing like the person she'd been getting to know over the last few days.

 _He's so different from what I was led to expect._

She didn't doubt that he was who he claimed to be. If she was like Moody, the paranoid retired auror, she would have already tied Harry up suspecting polyjuice potion, but Tonks had been in his presence for over an hour without any signs of a potion dose being taken so she was pretty confident that was not it.

Not that Harry not being Harry had ever really been a serious consideration to her. Especially now, not after witnessing the almost palpable emotion in his eyes when he'd seen Sirius for the first time, not to mention Hermione. You couldn't fake something like that.

But there were things bothering her. So many little tells that she'd seen that just didn't seem to add up.

She'd asked around earlier. Sirius, Remus, the Weasleys, anyone from the order he might have had contact with at any point the last year or so.

No one had ever mentioned her to him, even in passing, or so they claimed.

 _How did he know who I was?_

This wasn't the only question she'd been asking the last few hours, but she had no idea how to get the answers to anything else without straight up asking him.

 _Not yet. I need more before we go that route._

In truth Tonks didn't know what to do. She was definitely confused, and more than a little suspicious, but whenever she was around him most of her concerns just vanished to the back of her mind. He brought out the playful side of her she'd been keeping under lock and key since joining the auror corp. She knew no one would ever give her any awards for maturity normally, but the way she felt around him…

That was scaring her a bit.

 _Mostly because it feels so natural. The pull he exerts. I feel so drawn to him, especially now that we look almost the same age._

Tonks was not stupid, and she wasn't naïve, unlike what most people thought.

She knew she shouldn't be flirting with a fifteen year old, but merlin help her she couldn't seem to stop. She'd had a few crushes in the past, but none that had ever made her feel so…comfortable in her own skin.

Maybe it had something to do with him being a metamorph. She couldn't dismiss that as a possibility. Full metamorphmagi were beyond rare. Up until this week she'd been almost positive that she was the only one living in all of Europe. Knowing now that in fact that wasn't the case, the idea that there was someone right there in front of her who could really understand what it was like to be her…to have their gift. It was a powerful draw.

She'd thought for a while that maybe Remus….that maybe his situation would give him some insight into what it was like…being different, but now, having met Harry, she realized she'd only been fooling herself there.

At the very least she could thank Harry Potter for opening her eyes to that eventual disaster waiting to happen. If she'd let herself get anymore invested in that crush there was no telling when she would have realized the truth or how hurt she would have been when she eventually did.

Remus was a good man. She would never say otherwise, but hating yourself, the way that man did? There was no way a healthy relationship could start with that as its foundation. How can you love someone else if you're not even capable of liking yourself?

She paused that train of thought for a moment as she tried to recall how she'd felt earlier that night.

The broom race they'd had and how it had felt to be in Harry's arms after he'd saved her from her almost, not so refreshing, night time swim. She'd felt like the classic damsel in distress for a brief moment, not a feeling she'd ever thought she'd enjoy.

Nymphadora Tonks had never fantasized about being a princess or a damsel wanting to be saved by a white night on a shining steed, her childhood had been more about racing brooms and muggle sports games with her dad, but for a brief second, in his arms, she'd felt she could start to understand the appeal. Even looking back on it now invoked a smile from her that she couldn't suppress no matter how much she tried.

 _Merlin I'm in trouble._

Lightly hitting the back of her head on the wood behind her in frustration she tried to clear her thoughts.

 _I'll figure you out Mr. Potter. Whatever it takes, I'll figure out what you're hiding._

Moving away from the door she proceeded to get ready for bed.

"Vicarious thrills my arse…cheeky bastard."

# # #

 _ **August 3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **1995**_

 _ **9:05am**_

Harry and Sirius were sitting at the dining room table enjoying some morning tea. Not a drink Harry was used to, but one that he had dearly missed in the future.

He'd been up since 6am. Having meant to get a light bit of training in, before realizing that he had no idea if Grimmauld Place even had a training room. He was sure one had to exist, but he'd forgotten to ask Sirius with all the drama that had unfolded the night before.

He'd found Sirius sitting at the dining room table looking worse for the wear, nursing a glass of what Harry expected to be firewhiskey. If the bottle nearby was any indication.

 **Flashback [start]**

"Alright there Sirius?" Harry asked as he sat down across from his god-father.

Sirius looked up in surprise not noticing his approach.

"Morning pup. I'm fine." He finished the rest of his whiskey, a small bit of steam escaping his ears as he did so. "Couldn't sleep."

Harry took in his god-father's haggard appearance and the empty bottle of firewhiskey next to him.

"Nightmares?"

Sirius looked at him for a moment as if considering how much to tell him.

"Yeah." He said with a sigh. "Been getting better the last year or so, but they do flare up occasionally."

"Sirius I'm going to get you your day in court and when I do and when they finally exonerate you, would you make me a promise?" Harry asked his god-father seriously.

"What sort of promise?" Sirius asked wearily. His time as a marauder making him hesitant to blindly agree to something like that.

"Check yourself into Saint Mungo's." Harry replied.

"What? Why? Harry I'm fine. Nothing a few months of rest and relaxation can't cure." Sirius protested.

"Sirius don't." Harry placed his hands flat on the table in front of him. "We both know that's not true."

Harry paused as he thought about how to say the next part.

"Sirius you went through hell. A hell that drives most men mad in a fraction of the time you spent in there. Yes your animagus form shielded you from the brunt of it, but bloody hell Sirius you were in there for 12 years. The cumulative effect of all that dementor exposure alone has to have done some damage."

Sirius looked down at the table. Harry could tell that he wanted to refute what he was saying, but the certainty in his voice made it hard to say anything.

"It does not make you less of a wizard or less my god-father if you at least go and get examined." Harry insisted.

"But what if there's something wrong." Sirius quietly replied. "I mean…pup I just…"

"Sirius If there is something wrong, not knowing about it is always worse. If we know something is wrong than we can take whatever steps are needed to fix it." Harry kept his voice firm. "I need you healthy padfoot."

The use of his moniker seemed to jar the sleep deprived man. He looked down at the empty glass he was rolling between his hands as he considered Harry's words.

"Alright Harry I'll do it."

"You promise?" Harry quickly reminded him.

"Yes, I promise I'll go get checked out by Saint Mungo's once it is safe for me to do so."

"Thank You Padfoot. That makes me feel a lot better." Harry smiled for the first time since sitting down.

 **Flashback [end]**

Right after that Harry had made them both a cup of tea and they had spent the rest of the morning reminiscing about their time at Hogwarts. Harry telling him all about some of the less important events that had transpired over his first four years and Sirius telling him more about his parents and some of the pranks he and his father had pulled on the slytherins back in the day.

"So McGonagall was standing there, her robes flashing through every color in the rainbow, looking more furious than I have ever seen her and Dumbledore strolls in as cheery as the sun is bright, takes one look at her, and says," Sirius paused to breathe and then continued on in a fairly decent impression of the Hogwarts Headmaster. "My dear Minerva, where did you get such fantastic robes? You must tell me, I've been meaning to update my wardrobe for the longest time."

Remus who had just walked into the room snorted as he remembered that prank.

"That was one of your better one's Padfoot, but I seem to recall you spending the next week helping Filtch clean the owlery – by hand." Remus grabbed a cuppa for himself and sat down next to his friend and fellow marauder. "Morning Harry."

"Morning Remus." Harry smiled back the same twinge of irritation from last night hitting him, only not as fiercely.

"So what's on the agenda today Pup?" Sirius asked as he sipped his tea.

"Well I think I'm going to see about running a few errands in Diagon alley." He replied.

"Harry I'm not sure Dumbledore will approve of that." Remus said carefully.

"Well then it's a good thing Dumbledore has no say in that I do." Harry responded back cheerfully.

"Harry I understand if you're feeling upset about being kept in the dark this summer, but he's still your headmaster and magical guardian." The werewolf tried to remind him.

"Okay first off, it's nice that someone has finally bothered to let me know that I actually had a magical guardian, and second –", Harry lifted his hand up and allowed his Potter ring to show, "It no longer matters."

Remus and Sirius stared at his hand for a moment before his god-father dissolved into fits of laughter. Causing both Remus and Harry to worry for a moment that he had lost his mind.

Sirius waved his hand to brush aside their concern as he continued laughing.

"Harry you claimed your lordship!?" Sirius asked trying to bring himself back under control. "When did you do that?"

"Yesterday, Tonks and I went to Diagon Alley and I stopped in at Gringotts while we were there." Harry told them both.

"Yesterday, but that was before the Dementors attack." Remus commented.

Harry only smiled in response. That seemed to sober up Sirius.

"But the trace on you marking you as an under-aged wizard should have broken the moment you put that ring on. How did they…" Sirius trailed off.

"Isn't that something." Harry agreed.

"Oh Merlin…This…this is going to be….You know I kind of wish I could be there to see the look on Fudge's face when he discovers that little fact." Sirius stated glumly.

"Don't worry padfoot I'll make sure to preserve a copy of the memory for you." Harry assured his god-father. "But if you'll both excuse me I have some reading to catch up on before I get ready to go."

"Summer homework?" Remus asked. "I can help if you're stuck on anything."

The offer brought Harry up short. The irritation he felt in the man's presence diminishing slightly.

"No thanks Moony I'm good for now." Harry told him.

Seeing both older men nod Harry quickly turned and made his way back to his room.

That brief interaction with Remus had caused a bit of a confusion for Harry.

The last time he had spoken to the werewolf in the original timeline was when he had basically thrown Remus out of Grimmauld place after the man had revealed that he planned to abandon his wife and unborn child.

All because he couldn't accept his lycanthropy.

Harry had been beyond furious at the man. As a kid that had grown up not knowing his parent, as someone who would give anything to see his mum and dad again, the idea that someone he had come to think of as an uncle would willing put his child through that…Harry had refused to speak with him from that point on.

Even after the kid was born and Remus had attempted to reach out to him, Harry had turned him away. His anger still too strong.

Remus and Tonks had both died before he'd had another chance to speak to either of them again.

Reaching his room Harry closed and sealed the door against eavesdroppers and removed his Family's Grimoire from rune storage.

It truly was an irreplaceable treasure. When he had first found it in the Potter vault he had pinched himself in disbelief. He'd never had a chance to read it in his previous life, he'd never even known it existed. The goblins had said they'd seized all magical items in his vault. Claimed it was a part of the penalties he had incurred for the Potter Family breaching their terms of contract with his Dragon Riding.

He's been furious at the time, but had decided against fighting the goblins since he'd been allowed to keep his properties and a quarter of his liquid assets. According to the long standing contract all account holders agreed to, "Any overt act of war or loss of goblin life in an unprovoked attack on the Goblin Nation will see all holdings of the offending party forfeited."

Frankly it was only his explanation of what he was after and the long history of favorable relations the Potter family had with the Nation that saw him getting to keep as much as he had.

But if he had known the Grimoire existed, he may very well have gone to war to retrieve it. Almost fifteen hundred years' worth of magical knowledge, either discovered or perfected by his ancestors, was stored in its magically expanded pages. He'd only lightly skimmed through the first dozen pages and already he had found theories and spells that he could not wait to experiment with. Nothing truly awe inspiring, but interesting none the less.

Several hours passed while he was reading without him realizing it. Glancing up at the clock on his wall he saw that it was nearing lunch time. He needed to get a move on if wanted to get any shopping in.

Maybe he could convince Hermione to go with him.

# # #

 _ **August 3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **1995**_

 _ **12:36 pm**_

"I don't think we should have just snuck out like that." Hermione said for probably the third time since they'd floo'd to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Hermione, again, we did not sneak out. We told Sirius and Tonks where we were going and when we'd be back." Harry told her with a role of his eyes.

"But I'm not sure Professor Dumbledore would have agreed."

Harry turned to Hermione and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hermione do you trust me?" He asked.

"Of course I trust you Harry." Her answer was immediate.

"Then come on. I promise everything will be okay." He took her by the hand and led her down Diagon Alley.

"I trust you to get me into trouble." Hermione said with what he could swear was a pout.

Harry smirked at her, but otherwise ignored the comment.

"I figured we could start at Flourish and Blotts. I figured you could use some new reading material."

Hermione froze for a moment, her lingering desire to respect the headmaster's wishes directly opposed to the more immediate promise of new books.

"Well…what will it be Hermione? I have a money pouch here dedicated to books and book related purchases – should I put it back?"

Nearly getting his arm wrenched off as he was dragged into the book store was entirely his own fault he admitted to himself. Anyone who's known Hermione Granger for any length of time knows to never tease her with the threat of taking new books away from her.

Thus the next forty-five minutes found him obediently following his best friend through the store staring in amazement at the stack of books that had started to form in his arms.

The girl was on a mission. A mission to realize her lifelong dream of owning a magical library that could rival Hogwarts.

For Harry, seeing her smile and having such a good time was more than worth the aching arms and sore back. It wasn't until he started losing sight of her behind the pile of books that he felt the need to pull back the leash a little.

"Umm Hermione, don't you think we have enough for now?"

Not even bothering to look at him Hermione continued to scan the titles on the shelf in front of her.

"I mean we can always come back for more later." He suggested hopefully.

"But were already here Harry. Besides I'm only getting a few." She replied pulling a copy of " _Elemental Magic: Mastering Mother Nature in 4 Easy Steps!"_ off the shelf.

"A few…uhh..are you sure about that." He looked at her incredulously.

"Of course I'm sure, what are you – oh." Hermione had glanced over at him in confusion and finally recognized his plight.

"I'm sorry Harry. I seem to have let myself get a bit carried away." She apologized embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it." Harry told her with a smile.

"I suppose I should try and put some of them back." She said chewing her bottom lip as she thought about which books she could or could not live without. Completely unaware of the effect her actions were having on her shopping partner.

"Let's just get the lot." He suggested clearing his throat as he tried not to stare at the lip she was STILL chewing on.

"Harry there are way too many. How are we going to get them out of the store?" She fretted.

"Hermione are you a witch or not, just shrink the bag." He stated his answer like it was obvious.

Hermione sent him a glare even as she blushed in embarrassment from having forgotten such a simple solution to her dilemma.

"Sorry for not considering magic as an option." She crossed her arms as she sent him a mocking glare. "Not all of us got emancipated this summer Milord."

"You know I think kind of like it when you call me that." Harry replied with a grin.

"You know I think all those new muscles are starving your brain." She said with a huff of annoyance.

Her comment on his new build reminded him of something he had meant to say earlier. Her chosen outfit had really drawn his eyes to her, tight jeans and a well fitted T-shirt definitely showed off her form in a much more effective way than the bulky school robes he was used to seeing her in.

"That reminds me Hermione. I forgot to mention it before we left, but you look really nice today. I really like your hair like that."

Hermione, who had been about to reply to his teasing about the Milord comment, almost choked on her words.

 _Did he just compliment me on my looks?_

And even more important than that.

 _Did he notice that I tried that new spell Tonks taught me to control my hair?_

Her first question left her blushing, but the second left her dazed. Since when did her best friend notice things like that? Since she'd known him he'd never been that observant when it came to those types of things.

This was the boy who, she knew for a fact, had absolutely no idea that more than just a few girls at Hogwarts, and not just in his year group either, had been holding regular meetings for the Hogwarts chapter of the "Harry Potter All Girls Fan Club".

"Tonks showed me a few spells that helped control it." She explained. "You really like it?"

"I've always thought you were pretty, but the hair definitely frames your face nicely." Harry gave her a gentle smile as he said that.

He knew she'd struggled with her self-image in the past and he had been a pretty lousy friend to her by not letting her know that he didn't agree with all the "Plain Jane" comments she and others had made about her looks.

His silence might as well have been confirmation in the mind of teenaged girl / young woman that he agreed with them. He was definitely not going to be making the same mistakes from now on.

"Thanks Harry I…that's nice of you to say." Hermione said uncertainly.

"I'm nNot just saying it." Harry told her as he carefully set the books down on the floor next to him and reached out to take her hand to try and show his sincerity. "I'm sorry I've been such a git over the years. I know you've had people give you a hard time about your looks. I should have spoken up before now, told them all to bugger off, but I was too caught up in my own teen angst to really understand well...anything related to girls." She chuckled at his self-depreciating remark. "I've always been confused about the things I've heard them say. I don't understand how they seem unable to see the same beautiful girl I see when I look at you. I think a lot of the girls are simply too blinded by their jealousy of your intelligence to see anything else and the rest are just repeating the garbage Malfoy spews."

"Do you really think so Harry?" Her words were hard to make out. She had lowered her eyes and was using one hand to pick at the fabric of her shirt. The other still caught in his grasp.

"I really do." He gave her chin a gentle tap so she would look him in the eye. "You were absolutely stunning at the Yule ball. I'm pretty sure every boy there was wishing they'd asked you out when they saw you enter with Viktor."

The atmosphere had grown thick and without either of them realizing it Hermione had taken a step closer to him. She also didn't seem to notice when one of her hands came up to trace her finger tips over his shirt. Harry could feel his muscles twitching at the contact.

"Every boy?" She asked hesitantly.

"I'm pretty sure." Harry smiled.

"Even – ". She was interrupted mid-sentence and the atmosphere around them was shattered as a shopkeeper assistant appeared behind them clearing her throat to get their attention.

"Excuse me, but are you planning on buying these?" She indicated the pile of books at their feet. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we can't have merchandise just sitting on the floor if you don't intend to purchase them."

Stepping away from Hermione and releasing her hand Harry focused on the shop employee with an annoyed look.

The young woman gulped and shuffled her feet anxiously under the wizard's intense gaze.

"We'll take all of them. Please have them rung up at the register and ready for us. We shall be there in a moment." Harry cordially replied looking back at Hermione with concern as she had yet to move and was instead clutching her hands in front of her.

"Well umm sir we don't really –."

"Thank You." Harry's eyes snapped back to the assistant and for just a moment he allowed himself to use an old trick he'd learned about in the future. He tapped into his magic and instead of directing it into a spell he simply pulled it out and set it running through his body. This cause a whole bunch of effects that he had found to be useful in the future, but right now he was only interested in what it could do to his eyes. It made them glow.

The reaction was instantaneous.

"Of course sir I'll have them waiting for you. Take all the time you need." With that the assistant hastily levitated the book pile and almost ran to the front of the store.

Reigning in his power he felt himself calm down as he returned his attention to the girl in front of him.

"Hermione are you –." It was his turn to be interrupted as Hermione flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. He felt her shoulders shake as he slowly and hesitantly wrapped his arms around them.

 _She's crying._

Panic started to course through him as he started going over everything he had just said to her. Had he said something wrong? Did he say too much? Had he scared her?

He was just about to risk asking her when he heard her speak, the words slightly muffled by his shirt.

"Thank you."

 _Well I was definitely not expecting that._

He decided against saying anything for the moment and just settled with lightly rubbing her back with one hand. It seemed to be the right thing to do as her tears seemed to subside after a while.

Almost a minute later Hermione seemed to have regained enough control that she stepped back with only a brief sniffle.

"I'm sorry I broke down like that Harry." She said.

"I don't care about that Hermione, I just want to know what caused it. Was it something I said?" He asked.

"Well kind of – yeah." She replied with a smile.

"Whatever I said to upset you I'm sorry, that wasn't my intent." Harry tried to apologize only to be even further confused when she laughed.

"Oh Harry no I'm sorry, I'm a mess of confusing signals right now. I promise those were not sad tears."

"They weren't? So what were they?" Harry asked. Almost one hundred years of life experience and he still had no clue as to how a girl's mind worked.

To be fair, he'd only been married for a few of those years and it wasn't exactly a "normal" marriage. The rest of his time had been spent tracking down Dark Wizards and waiting for Voldemort to re-emerge every so often.

He might have been a bit of a workaholic.

"They're happy tears Harry." She giggled as she caught him silently repeat the words under his breath. "It's just…No one has ever said anything so…nice to me before. I guess I was just overwhelmed for a second. Your words meant a lot to me. Thank You."

"I meant every one of them. You are a beautiful girl Hermione. Don't let anyone make you feel like you aren't." His eyes were serious as he tried to reinforce those words in her mind.

"I won't." She let out a watery laugh as she wiped her face clean. "Let's get going before I start crying again."

"Okay, there are a few more places I need to stop at before we finish up. You want to grab a late lunch at the Leaky Cauldron before we head back?"

"I would love to." She replied with a wide smile.

As they were walking to the front of the store Harry suddenly remembered something Hermione had said before they had gotten distracted. When he asked her about it she gave him a funny look out of the corner of her eye, like he should know better.

"Harry you suggested I perform magic back at the store." She commented.

"Yes and…" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I'm underage Harry, I'm not allowed to perform magic outside of Hogwarts, Not if I don't want to be expelled."

Harry merely chuckled at that. Seeing her narrow her eyes he quickly went on to explain his amusement.

"Hermione, the ministry doesn't track underage magic in Diagon Alley for a reason, for more than one reason actually." He told her.

"What do you mean? How do you know that? What reasons?" She was staring at him wide eyed as if his answers were the answer to every Hogwarts test she would ever take in the future.

It actually made him kind of nervous.

"The ministry's official reason is because of Mr. Ollivander's Wand Shop. They say that if they tried to monitor the alley for underage magic they would be sending out letters every few minutes with kids trying out new wands during the summer. Which okay I guess that makes a little sense…somewhat…but that's not the only reason. It's not even completely accurate, but that's not important. What is important is that there are more reasons than they choose to reveal."

He watched as she seemed to hang on his every word.

"First reason why they don't is that they're actually not allowed to. All of Diagon Alley sits on land owned by Gringotts and per the peace treaty the ministry signed to end the last goblin/wizard they are not allowed to monitor anything coming from Goblin owned land in anyway except through goblin approved channels."

"And the second reason?" Hermione prompted.

"They simply can't. Their monitoring devices won't work. The ambient magic in the air around the Alley and Gringotts in particular is so strong, that any magical signature produced nearby gets completely scrambled. Too much Magical interference."

For a moment Hermione just stared at him before shaking her head.

"I don't know where this Harry Potter has been hiding, but I think I'll keep him."

Harry smiled at that and took off towards his next destination. Next up on the list; the previously mentioned Ollivanders.

He needed to ask the man about a wand holster.

# # #

As Harry and Hermione were getting ready to pay for their purchases a woman with blonde hair leaned against the shelf in the next aisle over in shock.

"Mon seigneur ... What was that?" The surprised witch asked as she placed her hand to her chest as she tried to calm her breathing. Only to pull it back in surprise as the fabric of her blouse started smoking.

She glanced down at her hand to see her palm glowing a bright red.

She needed to speak with her maman immediately.

# # #

 _ **August 3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **1995**_

 _ **2:45 pm**_

After having enjoyed a simple lunch at the Leaky Cauldron Harry and Hermione took the floo back to Number 12, with Hermione going first and Harry following after with all their purchases securely placed in his rune storage.

To say Hermione was still jealous and would be making him show her how to create one of her own soon was like saying the Arctic Circle was just "a little chilly".

Harry stepped into the floo, taking extra care to clearly state his destination. He had always had an issue with floo travel, even in the future.

Half the time it was as simple as walking from one room to the next and the other half the time it was like being shot from a cannon. He had mastered both Apparition and Portkey travel, but for the life of him he could not figure out why he still had issues with the floo.

This would prove to be one of the later cases unfortunately. Instead of arriving at a slow walking pace, he was instead, violently expelled from the fireplace like a rock from a slingshot – directly into a very startled Hermione Granger.

The impact sent them rolling across the ground, Harry doing everything he could to shield the witch he has just plowed over from being hurt.

When the world finally stopped spinning Harry stopped breathing as he took notice of the rather – compromising position they'd found themselves in.

Harry laying stiff as a board on his back with a very ruffled Hermione granger laying on top of him. He had one hand on the back of her head, the other curled around her waist. Hers resting on his shoulders.

They looked at each other for a moment both too stunned to move.

Feeling his lungs start to protest Harry took a deep breath through his nose, unintentionally drawing in the scent of her strawberry shampoo. His entire body twitched in response and he felt her unconsciously dig her nails into his shoulders a little bit.

Their faces were inches apart. He could feel her breath against his face as she exhaled softly. He unconsciously applied a little more pressure to her waist as he felt the fingers of his other hand slowly start to thread their way deeper into her hair.

She released a small gasp, but the sudden sound was enough to break through his daze and Harry's eyes widened as he realized how close they were…a small part of him, which was slowly growing larger, was kind of curious to see how she would…

"Harry…Hermione is that you!?" A voice called from the other room, causing both of them to roll away from each other in panic.

"It's us Tonks!" Harry called back as they jumped to their feet.

"Alright I was just making sure!" Tonk's head appeared through the doorway at the far side of the room, her normal smirk greeting both of them. "Can't be too careful these days."

Harry and Hermione both chuckled self-consciously.

Tonks eyed them for a second, almost like she was suspected them of something.

"Did something happen?" She asked, her eyes moving to Harry's to gauge his reaction.

"Nope just a long day of shopping." Harry wasn't sure how he managed to keep his voice even, but he was thankful he did. The last thing he needed was Tonks finding out what had just happened.

She would never let him live it down.

"Okay well dinner isn't scheduled for a few more hours so I was thinking of checking out the training room Sirius claims this place has. Either of you feel like joining me?" The auror offered.

Harry instantly forgot all about his embarrassment at the mention of training.

"I'll take you up on that. Hermione?" He looked at the witch next to him.

"No thanks, I'm a little tired. I'm going to go lay down for a bit." She answered with a smile.

"Okay then. See you in the main hall in five minutes Harry?" Tonks asked. Getting a nod of acceptance she pulled her head back and let the door close.

"Well thanks for coming with me Hermione. I appreciated the company." Harry looked down at his feet as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

He was shocked that instead of responding with words she stepped up in front of him and leaned in to softly place a small kiss on his cheek.

"No thank _you_ Harry. I haven't had that much fun in a while. Hopefully we have the chance to get out and spend some time together more often." She smiled shyly and Harry felt his cheeks grow warm.

"I think that would be great." He said. "We don't spend enough time together...just the two of us. I think it could be fun if today was any indication."

"Great…well…you better not keep Tonks waiting."

Harry gave her a quick nod and went to leave the room only to realize that in his haste he had nearly forgot to get her books out of storage for her.

He quickly pulled the bags out and handed them over.

"Here's the books we bought. Let me know if there's anything promising that we can go over together later."

Hermione grinned, whether at the prospect of getting to look through her new books or the thought of sharing her findings with him later he did not know.

Knowing her propensity for creating study groups. It was anyone's guess.

Harry left the room soon after that, making his way towards the main hall wondering if Tonks would be up for training with him.

He hadn't had a good sparring partner in quite a while.

He'd have to hide a lot of his abilities and skill, but he didn't see that being much of a problem.

Thinking up ways to ask the young auror to spar with him he walked into the hall and found her standing there waiting.

"You finish saying goodbye to your girlfriend?" Tonks said with a smirk that for some reason made him kind of nervous.

"Hermione's not my girlfriend Tonks, we're just friends." He told her uncertainly. Her hair was a darker shade of pink than usual. Was she upset about something?

Tonks held up her hands in surrender.

"Alright sorry I just assumed when I came in and saw you guys looking around all guilty like, I figured I'd interrupted a quick snog." She explained.

"No I screwed up the landing coming out of the floo, knocked her over. I was just helping her up when you popped in." Harry told her hoping she would buy the toned down version.

"Hmm Okay. None of my business anyway." She seemed to dismiss the topic. "You ready to check out the training room?"

Harry sighed in relief that she was willing to drop the subject and gave her an enthusiastic nod.

"Absolutely! I wanted to ask you for a favor if we do find it." At her curious look he continued. "Would you mind sparring with me a little? Maybe helping me run through some drills?"

Harry was not ashamed to admit that her answering smile made his blood run a little cold.

"Oh I would love to."

To be Continued…

 **Author's Note:** Okay guys here we are another day another update. Like I said up top, this will be the last update for about a week. I am going back to work tomorrow so I will not have the same amount of time to dedicate to writing.

My hope is to get a chapter out at least once a week or maybe every 8 or 9 days.

Hopefully you all be patient with me in that regard.

I also hope that you guys liked the scenes between Harry and Hermione. I absolutely love writing Tonks, but I wanted this chapter to focus more on the Harry/Hermione relationship.

I actually really like how it turned out, but I might be a little biased.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Until Next Time!


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. All characters and plots within were created and are owned by J.K. Rowling. I am simply borrowing them for fun and seek no monetary gain from this. Any original characters or plots are mine.**_

 **Author's Note:** Welcome back! Welcome Back! It's me! Yes yes I know you are all probably sitting there going…."Who?"

Well for those of you that remember me and have been waiting for an update to this story please let me present to you….

A gift straight from my imagination….Destiny Done Right Chapter 4!

Happy Holidays!

I know it's been a while and I do apologize for that. I have a lot of plot going through my head almost all the time, but most of it is for other stories.

It really is a bit of a nightmare. I love writing…even though I don't really think I have much talent for it. My grammar and writing is slowly improving, but it's nowhere near where I want it to be…yet.

My head is constantly spinning with new ideas and plots for stories from a multitude of fandoms.

I have one in my head right now….a fully fleshed out storyline for a Legend of Korra crossover with Avatar the Last Airbender that I know would stretch out into two full books.

Yesterday I sat down to write a little and ideas for a sequel to my other unfinished story: Guardians of Akasha popped into my head and I had to just sit there and suffer as it continued to develop without aid from me.

Loving to write, but having a brain that will not cooperate and let you focus on one story at a time is beyond aggravating.

But enough about my own personal issues, let's talk about this story.

 **PLEASE READ THIS PART BEFORE READING THE CHAPTER:** I have re-written chapters 1-3 of this story. Some areas I only made a few tweaks to, others I completely scrapped and re-wrote from the ground up. Nothing plot wise has changed, but I tried to do a little cleaning and polishing. I was not happy with the previous chapters as they were. The grammar was horrible and the writing was long winded and overly detailed in some areas.

Some of it read like a 5th grader had written it while trying to sound smarter than he actually is. Needless to say it was bugging me something fierce.

I suggest you go back to the beginning and re-read those chapters before continuing.

Let me know what you guys think!

 _ **Chapter 4: Umm...We used to be married?**_

"Woah!" Harry exclaimed as he dodged yet another stinging hex thrown at him by the pink haired auror. They had been running the same drill for the last thirty minutes and Harry was beyond thankful for his metamorphing abilities. There was no way his fifteen year old body would have been able to handle the punishment.

He would have been nothing but a swollen and drooling mess long before the fifteen minute mark. Contrary to popular belief quidditch did not do much to exercise one's body. It helped the core a little and the arms a bit, but for the most part it was a very sedentary game. Especially for the seeker, who for the most part was just flying circles around the pitch until they spotted the snitch.

Harry had asked Tonks to help him train, thinking it would be a marvelous idea. She was an auror, even if she was still only considered a rookie. She would be able to keep up with him far better than most of the older order members. Not that he expected much – He had three quarters of a century on her in terms of experience. He had been hoping for a quick sparring match to get the blood pumping, but Tonks had wanted to start with what she called "warm up drills".

She called it "Dodging for Dummies." Harry had laughed at the muggle book reference until she had unexpectedly thrown the first stinging hex – at his face.

He had barely moved to the side in time. He vaguely remembered what one of those spells felt like when taken to that part of the body and he was not eager to experience that again.

Dodging another series of spells by weaving back and forth from side to side Harry called out to Tonks to find out how much longer she planned on _trying_ to hit him.

Only to yelp in surprise when she used a spell chain to fire off four more hexes almost simultaneously. They were spread out so they framed him on either side. Two were aimed at shoulder height to stop him from moving out of the way and one going low to keep him from ducking.

Harry almost conjured a shield, but stopped himself not wanting to break the rules laid out for their exercise: No magic. Harry didn't want to contemplate what Tonks might think up as a punishment if he tried.

Judging the spell trajectory Harry waited until the last second before jumping and tucking his arms in close to his body. Tilting to the side so that he ended up going into an almost completely horizontal spin, his body parallel to the ground. Slipping between the spells and he landed on his hands and knees breathing harshly.

He kept his eyes on the tip of his trainer's wand waiting for the next volley only to be confused when nothing happened for several seconds. He glanced up at Tonk's face only to see her staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

Standing up slowly he stayed light on his feet in case this was a ruse to get him to drop his guard.

"Uh – Tonks? Are we done for now?" He asked the frozen auror.

Tonks lowered her wand at his question.

"Nice reflexes. I thought for sure I had you with that last one." She replied.

Harry finally relaxed and moved to grab a towel hanging off to the side to wipe his face off.

"Thanks. That last spell chain wasn't bad either. Four spells almost at once – very impressive." He acknowledged. He meant it as a compliment. Spell Chaining was a very high level dueling technique that took a lot of time to master. "They teach you that in Auror Training?"

Tonks gave a confirming nod as she moved to take a towel for herself.

"Well now that we have your 'warm-up' out of the way, how about a quick spar?" Harry asked. He wanted to test himself further.

"Sure I can show you a few things." Tonks agreed.

"I'm sure you can try." Harry said with a grin. "I promise to go easy on you."

# # #

 _ **August 3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **1995**_

 _ **4:00 pm**_

"Oh merlin that hurts." Harry winced as he slowly settled into one of the chairs available in the Black Family Library. Despite being made with a generous amount of plush leather he could still feel every ache and pain as he tried to make himself comfortable.

"Well that's what happens when you tell an auror of my caliber to not hold back." Tonks said smugly.

"Yeah, I'll remember that for the future." Harry told her irritably.

"No need to be snooty about it." She frowned. "How did you expect that to go down?"

Harry sighed in frustration as he chided himself for his behavior.

"Sorry Tonks. I'm not upset with you. I'm just frustrated with myself." He tried to give her an apologetic smile, but it came out more of a grimace.

Tonks looked at him for a moment before reaching in to the bag she had brought with her from the training room. Reaching in, she pulled out a bright blue potion and offered it to him.

He really was frustrated. He'd known he'd have to hold back a bit in their spar. Revealing his true skill would bring up questions he couldn't really answer. What he hadn't expected, however, was how difficult it was to get his body to move like he was used to.

He felt clumsy – not enough that most people would notice, but enough to feel like each reaction was a second too late.

It wasn't just physical either. His magic felt sluggish as well. He could still feel his reserves, and in a pinch he could still summon them up if needed, but where in his prime his magic had always felt like an eager puppy, just waiting to respond at the slightest of urging, now it felt like a slumbering lion. Still powerful, still capable of what he asked of it, but much slower to respond.

This would be a problem, if he left it unaddressed.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You've got some great reflexes Potter. I was honestly forced to go full out a few times there. You're surprisingly difficult to hit."

Harry took the proffered vial, which he immediately recognized as a healing potion, more than likely an elixir to help his bruising. He popped the cork and drank it down as quickly as he could, shuddering at the foul aftertaste.

"Guh…why do they make these things taste like arse?" He asked getting a chuckle out of the woman in front of him.

"I think it's to prevent people like you from abusing them. Just because we can heal injuries with nothing but a potion doesn't mean we shouldn't try to avoid getting hurt in the first place."

"I guess that makes sense." Harry replied.

He sighed in relief as he felt the potion start to take effect, the pain radiating from his back starting to recede as the bruises started to heal.

 _I was too reckless._

If that had been a real fight, if Tonks had been one of Tom's inner circle he would have suffered a lot worse than a few contusions.

"Thanks for the lesson Tonks. I needed the wake-up call." Harry managed to smile at her this time. "I promise next time things will be different." His tone filled with confidence.

Tonks eyed him for a moment as if assessing his sincerity.

She must have found what she was looking for after a moment because she gave him a quick nod of agreement.

"I'll hold you to that." The normally bubbly auror for once sounded completely serious. Her usual sarcastic wit notably absent. "But I need to get going. I've got to stop in at the ministry for a bit. I'll see you tomorrow yeah?"

She picked up her bag from where she had left it on the table and gave him a quick glance.

"Yeah I'll see you tomorrow." Harry gave her a wave and watched as she left the room.

As soon as the door closed behind her Harry sighed deeply and let himself fall back into the oversized chair closing his eyes.

 _That was embarrassing._ Harry thought to himself.

Losing to someone as young as Tonks, and so horribly as well, left a bad taste in his mouth. He'd been fighting against dark wizards for almost a century. He'd taken on wizards and witches that were leagues beyond the young metamorph and walked away with only a few scratches.

To lose in the way he had, even handicapped with not being able to show his true power, was beyond shameful.

They'd limited themselves to only using stinging hexes and shield charms and much to his surprise she'd forced him on the defensive almost immediately. No matter how much he pushed himself he was always one step behind, barely managing to dodge or deflect most of her shots.

That is not to say that he hadn't given her a challenge at all, he'd gotten in a few quick shots, enough to at least keep her on her toes, keep her from being able to give anything less than her best effort, but it had still ended up with him on the ground moaning in pain.

He felt like a first year all over again.

 _I'm definitely going to have to start training again. I can't expect to go up against Tom like this._

He'd fought the tosser so many times over the years it had actually started to feel routine, and each time he'd gotten better. Eventually getting to the point that the "Dark Lord" actually started going out of his way to avoid any kind of direct confrontation with him.

 _I don't think this is going to be as easy as I thought it would be._

-X-X-X-

 _ **August 3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **1995**_

 _ **5:00 pm**_

"Hi Harry." A quiet voice said from the doorway.

Harry had decided to try and clear his head with a bit of reading. He wanted to try and make his way through more of his Grimoire. So far nothing useful. He was halfway through an extremely descriptive entry authored by an old ancestor of his that seemed to think that magical "Crop Rotation" was the most exciting thing ever conceived and would "revolutionize herbology".

Not exactly what he had been expecting when he'd first opened the book.

Looking up from the book he almost cringed inside as he saw Ginny Weasley standing in the doorway looking in nervously.

"Are you busy?" She asked looking at the book in his lap.

Harry looked down at the page he'd been reading and for a brief moment wondered if he could get away with lying and saying he was. He didn't feel anywhere near ready to deal with the small red head.

 _Will I ever be ready to talk to her?_ He wondered to himself. _How does anyone prepare to talk to their formerly dead ex-wife?_

Ginny Weasley had been his first serious relationship. Starting near the middle of his 6th year the two had started going out, only to break up at the end of the year as Harry realized it would be too dangerous for her to be associated with him romantically.

He had pined for her most of the summer until around the time Ron had abandoned Hermione and him during the horcrux hunt. He always thought he should have questioned how much less he had thought of her after that point, but had shrugged it off thinking that things had been so up in the air by then that he was just been too distracted.

It wasn't until much later that he learned better.

They were at a dinner party being held by the Weasley family celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary when he had discovered the truth.

His love for his wife wasn't real. He'd walked into the kitchen wanting to offer his help only to witness her pouring a potion into one of the goblets right before dinner was supposed to get underway, a potion he had recognized instantly: Amortentia, the strongest love potion known to the magical world.

To say he had been devastated would have been putting it lightly. At the time he didn't know how to feel, he wanted to deny that what he was seeing was real. He tried to convince himself that he had to have been seeing things, but a quick diagnostic spell over his goblet of pumpkin juice at dinner had destroyed that delusion.

He's immediately asked to speak with Ginny in their room and once behind closed and silenced doors confronted his wife about the potion only to watch, in shock, as she had a mental breakdown in front of him, screaming that he couldn't leave her, insisting that he was her destiny and prince. She had eventually ended up on the floor clutching his leg and rocking back and forth sobbing his name.

That was not the reaction he had been expecting; not in the slightest. He had been ready for lies, excuses, even anger, but not hysterics of that magnitude.

He had picked her up and making sure the silencing spell he had place on the door was still active, took her to their bed and laid her down gently. Managing to pry her off him by assuring her he wouldn't leave her, he cast a few quick medical scans he'd picked up in the auror corp.

Turns out he wasn't the only one under a potion's influence. The scans came back positive for Amortentia same as him, and a host of other compulsion and mood affecting enchantments. Quickly stunning her, Harry had taken her to the only healer he trusted at that time; Madame Pomfrey.

It took only a few hours for Pomfrey to diagnose his wife.

Ginny Potter nee Weasley was severely mentally damaged. It turned out that she was actually potioning the both of them, but Pomfrey was convinced that she was only doing so after years of compulsion charms and other mind altering potions too numerous to name.

It had taken weeks too slowly ween her off the potion cocktail she'd been ingesting for so long. And Months before a St. Mungo's Mind Healer had deemed her healthy enough to return home.

She'd handed him divorce papers the day she returned home – and taken her own life that night.

Harry hadn't know how to react back then. He'd cared for Ginny as a sister before his feelings had suddenly changed. Finding out she had been dosing him with love potions was a devastating blow, one he had been able to withstand only because he had been assured by a medical professional that she wasn't in her right mind.

He'd been hoping to reconcile with her and thought they could help each other heal enough to try to recapture their friendship.

Her suicide had left him shaken and without closure.

All of that went through his mind as he saw her standing there waiting for him to respond.

 _Man up Potter! You came back to change things. You can't do that if you let fear rule you._

"Hey Ginny." He finally greeted with a smile. "Not really busy, just reading a little further into my Family's Magics.

"What do you mean?" She asked curious stepping into the room and letting the door close behind her.

"I found my Family Grimoire the other day in my parent's vault." He explained.

"Really? Does it have anything interesting in it?" She asked.

Harry smiled at the casual way she asked.

"It's pretty interesting, but not as much as many people would think." He told her.

"What do you mean? What do people think?" Ginny asked confused.

"Ginny do you know what a Grimoire is?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. He'd assumed as a pureblood she would already have been taught about the significance of a book like the one he was holding.

"Not really." She shrugged in response.

Harry gestured to the seat in front of him and waited for her to sit down.

"A grimoire is a like a journal of sorts. It's a record of all magics researched or created by a family. The book is usually handed down over years with each generation contributing to its contents. Generally the older a grimoire is the more valuable the knowledge it contains."

"That's the Potter family Grimoire." Ginny stated. "How old is it?"

"Around fifteen-hundred years old." He told her with a smirk.

That seemed to finally get a reaction out of her.

Her eyes widened and she looked at the Grimoire as if seeing it for the first time.

"Fifteen-hundred – it must have some incredible magic in there." She whispered.

"It definitely has some interesting things, but it's not as incredible as I'm sure some people would like to imagine." He patted the soft leather endearingly. "So far I've only found a few spells in here that can be used. The rest was all just theories and research notes that have been added to over the years. Most people will hear about this book and think 'It must contain powerful long lost magic from the time of Merlin!'" He added the end with a dramatic flair, earning a giggle out of the girl in front of him. "But so far, not so much. Oh trust me, the research and theories some of my ancestor's put in here could definitely lead to some powerful magic, but I've only just delved into it. Only time will tell if I'll be able to get anything actually useful out of the notes in here."

Ginny seemed a bit disappointed, but moved on rather quickly.

"Well The reason I came looking for you was to see how you were? You've been here for almost 24 hrs and haven't even said hi to me. I wanted to make sure everything was okay." The girl gave him a serious look, as if daring him to deny that he had been ignoring her.

Harry managed to look ashamed as he apologized.

"Honestly Ginny I was just so focused on confronting the order that I didn't really think to stop and chat. I'm sorry about that." He offered contritely.

Harry felt bad for lying to her, but he couldn't exactly tell her the truth. That he had intentionally ignored her in an attempt to avoid having to think about their past…future…future-past?

 _Not important Potter focus!_

He had been worried about how he would react to seeing her once again. Would it hurt seeing her now? Would he feel any lingering love or longing for the woman he'd been married to for five years?

Thankfully, it turned out, the strongest emotion he felt was…happiness.

The young girl in front of him wasn't his former wife. She was just the girl he'd once thought of as a little sister. He could definitely appreciate that many would find her attractive, even at the young age of fourteen, but it was more of an appreciation of her looks then any real desire on his behalf.

 _How did I never notice that she looks almost exactly like my mother?_

He suppressed the shiver that had tried to work its way up his spine. With that thought in mind he decided, then and there, that there were some memories that were better off locked away and never looked at again – like his wedding night.

 _Ugh!_

"Don't worry Harry its okay, with everything that's happened in just the last day or so, I guess I can't blame you for not stopping to chat." Ginny told him trying to brush it off as if it didn't bother her.

"No Ginny you can blame me, I was being thoughtless." He told her firmly, his sense of fairness not letting him accept her forgiveness – not when he didn't deserve it. "I promise I'll make it up to you."

Ginny got up out of the chair, smiling as she started walking towards the door.

"Okay then, I'm going to go write a letter to Michael, I'll see you at Dinner?" She asked.

"Michael? You mean Michael Corner?" Harry asked confused.

"Yeah we met at the yule ball last year, Ron didn't tell you? We've – uh – sort of been seeing each other since." Ginny blushed a bit as she reached the door and looked back at him.

"Oh I didn't know." Harry told her honestly. He'd completely forgotten that she and Corner were dating by this time. "How's things going with him? Need me to give him a scare?" Harry smirked.

Ginny scoffed at him.

"You – Harry Potter – 'Boy-Who-Lived, Slayer of Basilisks, and The Youngest Hogwarts Seeker in a Century' – pulling the big brother act on my boyfriend? I actually like him, I would rather you not scare him off just yet." She shook her head.

"Oh come on – It's not like I'd actually hurt the bloke, besides if he runs scared from something as innocent as a "You hurt her" speech then he wasn't good enough for you anyway." Harry made sure to inject enough sincerity into the last part to make sure she knew he was serious.

"Thanks Harry that's sweet, but I think I'm going to have enough trouble with Ron giving every boy near me the stink eye." She turned to the door and sent one last comment back at him. "Like he has any room to talk…until he can work up the courage to ask Hermione out I don't want to –."

She cut off and whipped her head around at the loud crack that echoed across the room, only to stare with wide eyes as she saw the book case behind harry slowly split in two down the middle, its books falling into a heap on the floor.

She looked at Harry with confusion until she saw his eyes. A small part of her instantly told her to run. An even smaller part of her admitted to eyeing him appreciatively for a brief moment, before both parts were smacked back in line by the rest of her which was instantly worried for the wizard she'd started to think of as another brother.

"Harry what…what's wrong?" She asked tentatively.

Her voice seemed to bring him back out of his anger, enough for him to realize what he'd done.

"Bloody hell…" Harry moaned as he wiped a hand across his face. There was no way Ginny was going to be convinced with him telling her it was just a spot of accidental magic. "Uhh – Sorry Gin. Didn't mean to lose my cool like that."

He summoned his wand from his holster and a quick flick had the room righted in a flash.

"Harry what caused that? Losing your cool…what do you…" She cut off as she realized what she had said to him right before he'd "accidentally" snapped a bookshelf in half. "Harry do you –?" Harry cut her off mid-sentence.

Climbing quickly out if his chair he tried to get past her to the door. "It was nothing Ginny, I've got to hit the loo." Only to be stopped by the small red-head standing in his way, hands on her hips, a smirk on her face. "What?" He said slightly uneasy.

"Harry do you like Hermione?" Ginny asked not bothering to dance around the topic.

Harry's eyes went wide as he tried to come up with an answer that would divert her attention.

"Umm…what?"

 _Smooth Potter. I'm sure that convinced her._ His own mind snarked at him.

"You do..." She nearly whispered, her smile growing. "How long have you liked her? Have you told her? Are you guys dating? Was that trip to Diagon Alley yesterday a DATE!?" Her voice growing with each question.

"Whoa! Slow down Gin…" Harry reached out and grabbed the smaller girl by the shoulders. "I have no idea what you're –." He instantly shut up as he found her wand an inch from his face pointing up at his nose. He didn't feel like finding out what a Bat-Bogey felt like crawling its way out of his nostril.

 _Was she always this violent?_

"Fine okay yes I…I like her." He admitted. "I don't know when it happened, No I haven't told her, so no we're not dating, and well I guess yesterday was almost a date." He sighed in defeat.

"Wow…." Ginny said with a sigh as she finally pulled her wand away from his face.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief before realizing that he was still holding on to her shoulders and released his grasp letting his hands drop back to his side.

"Just…Please promise that you won't say anything to anyone?" Harry asked.

"Oh absolutely I promise." She assured him with a smile. "You should tell her how you feel. You don't want someone else asking her out before you, do you?"

"Thanks…And not that I don't appreciate the support, but I would have thought you would be more – I don't know – upset with me for liking the girl your brother likes." He forced the last part out.

Ginny grinned and shook her head.

"Oh trust me, before today I would have supported him – He's my brother and all – but it doesn't take a ravenclaw to see that Hermione and Ron would never work out in the long run." She explained.

Harry smiled at that; Happy to hear that he wasn't the only one that shared that opinion.

"Okay well, as fun as it is to hear you might be getting a love life, I need to go write a letter to further mine." Ginny said as she gave him a little wave and made to leave the room. "See you at dinner."

"Later Gin." He watched the red head walk out of the room and silently thanked merlin that things were not going to be complicated on that front. The girl he had just talked with was a funny and energetic girl that he was more than willing to call a friend.

Their marriage, or more specifically the potions, had changed her into someone that he hadn't recognized in the end. It was nice to see this side of her again.

 _This time I'll make sure we're both free to make our own choices. Regardless of what THAT women wants._

-X-X-X-

 _ **Elsewhere…**_

"My lord what…what is this place."

"A place of profound importance. That is all you need to know – now come forward and prove your loyalty to your master." Voldemort told the man wearing the death eater mask.

They were standing in the middle of a small dark cave – the location of which the dark lord had not bothered to divulge. Simply choosing to side-along apparate them both there instead.

The death eater, a wizard by the name of Mathias Collander, only three years out of Hogwarts, walked forward nervously as he look around at the cave his master had brought him to. It was dark and dank, but Mathias could smell the ocean nearby. He swallowed thickly trying to clear his throat even as he stepped up next to the wizard he had sworn to follow. He had no clue why his master had ordered him to accompany him, except for a brief mention of having to retrieve something important.

"Hold out your hand." Voldemort commanded the death eater.

Determined to show no hesitation in front of the wizard he had pledged his loyalty too, the younger wizard held out his hand palm up only to hiss in surprise when, with a small twitch of the dark lord's wand, a small gash opened up in the center of his hand – blood pooling as he tried to keep it from spilling. Despite the pain he stopped himself from pulling away or voicing his displeasure.

"Very good Mathias." Voldemort praised. "Smear the blood here."

Mathis Collander was a new recruit, barely a week had passed since his initiation. He'd only had the Dark mark for three days before being chosen for this mission. To hear his name being spoken aloud by the most powerful dark wizard in modern history filled him with awe.

Surely his master did not bother to learn the names of all those that pledged themselves to him. A wizard of his importance...he surely had more pressing concerns.

Mathias felt empowered. He was important, why else would Lord Voldemort have decided to pick him? Why else would he know his name?

Quickly doing as instructed, he stepped back as the rock wall in front of him seemed to absorb the blood. A soft rumbling filled the cave and Mathias watched as the wall in front of him started to crumble; pieces of it falling away, slowly at first, but speeding up as the rough shape of an arch started to form.

He watched in trepidation as the stones rolled out of the way until a clear path was formed, large enough to fit a single individual.

"Come." Voldemort commanded stepping through the newly created archway. Mathias followed closely; not willing to risk his master's anger.

The tunnel on the other side of the arch eventually gave way to a vast chamber with a large lake in the middle stretching so far into the darkness that Mathias could not see the far shore.

Voldemort approached the water slowly his hand outstretched. Slowly moving his hand in a circular motion over the water. A few seconds passed before with a spray of mist a chain appeared to rise out of the water like a snake. The dark lord gently traced the links closest to him with a single finger and then stepped back as the chains went taught and started to move.

They waited in silence for a moment as they watched the chain spin towards them, the nearest end slipping back into the water at their feet. In the distance a blurred figure appeared, coasting over the water quickly.

A boat, bone white and barely big enough for one.

"I will go first and then send the boat back for you." Voldemort's words echoed off the chamber walls.

"Yes my lord." Mathias said immediately.

"Do not keep me waiting."

Mathias thought to respond, but his master was already moving forward, stepping into the boat without further comment.

The death eater watched as the boat started moving on its own. It didn't take long for the dark lord's form to be lost to the darkness.

Tom Riddle AKA Voldemort, stood patiently with his arms crossed as the boat skimmed across the still waters.

"I am pleased to see you heeding my advice." A deep voice breaking through his thoughts.

Glancing down into the water next to his boat Voldemort saw the dark silhouette and bright red eyes of his master's reflection staring back at him.

"It was prudent advice my lord." He replied carefully resisting the urge to cringe, remembering the agony of his master's most recent punishment. "It would have been foolish of me not to check on my horcruxes, at least the one's I have access to, after being gone for so long."

"Yes I am sure you would have done so eventually even without my prompting." The demon lord replied sounding amused.

Voldemort grit his teeth. It was true that he had not even considered checking on his phylacteries until his master had mentioned them. Why would he? He had ensured their safety with the darkest of magicks. This was a fool's errand. One he was convinced the demon had only advised him to undertake as a way of mocking him.

Unfortunately there was nothing to be done about it. Not following his master's "advice" would have been far worse. He didn't want to contemplate what would have happened if the demon ever felt that he had been insulted.

A shiver raced up his spine.

If it wasn't for the fact that he needed the rather substantial increase to his magical reserves his pact with the demon granted him, he would have already devoted all his time and effort into finding a way to sever their link.

His musings were cut short as the boat slowed to a halt on the shore of a rocky little island.

Voldemort stepped out of the boat, and with a quick touch to the chain it was tethered to, sent it back the way he had come to retrieve his servant.

Not bothering to wait, he made his way up the slightly sloped rocks, his gaze locked on the large stone basin in front of him.

It was crude in shape, its purpose as a container more important than its appearance.

Voldemort's eyes moved around the edge of the bowl as he inspected the runes he had etched into the rim so many years ago. They had taken months to research and design, some of his finest work at the time. He was not above feeling a moment of pride as he recalled the satisfaction he had felt the first time he had activated them and watched as they came alight with power and fulfilled their function without fail.

Their purpose was to ensure the bowl never ran dry of the potion that even now after all the years that has passed still filled the bowl. The potion, a bright glowing green concoction of his own creation, meant to protect that which was most precious to him.

The true reason he had ventured out this night, to this cave, rested just below the surface of the shimmering potion.

A locket.

A heavy gold locket inlaid with green gem stones placed in line to resemble the letter "s".

This was not some paltry fashion accessory, or trinket. Its worth far exceeded the value of its materials and craftsmanship.

This was one of his horcruxes, one of the keys to his power.

He allowed himself to drift back on the tides of time, recalling the memory of this horcrux's creation.

This horcrux had been his third. He'd used a no named tramp he'd found living on the streets the day before as the sacrifice to fuel the dark ritual that would bind a portion of his soul to the locket he had chosen as the receptacle.

Riddle chuckled to himself as he remembered being amused at the time that it was someone wasting away on the streets of London, an existence that no one would miss or remember, that would have the honor of being one of the select few responsible for helping the most powerful wizard in history attain true immortality.

A fact none but he would ever know.

"I am here my lord."

Voldemort turned slowly to see Mathias stepping off the boat behind him.

"Very good Mathias come over here." He commanded.

The young death eater eagerly did as he was told.

"There is something I need to retrieve Mathias, but to do so I require you're assistance." Voldemort told him somberly.

For Mathias Collander this was a dream come true. His master needed HIS help. Out of all the death eaters he'd had to choose from Lord Voldemort had chosen him.

He squared his shoulders and raised his head high.

"Anything my lord. How may I be of service to you?" He asked.

Voldemort smile was sinister though Mathias' mistook it to be one of gratitude.

"A powerful magical artifact lies within the basin in front of you – one of great power and importance to me." Voldemort gestured to the bowl and watched as Mathias stepped forward and leaned over the rim slightly. "It is protected by a potion of my own invention, one that even one such as myself dare not consume, yet consumed is exactly what this potion must be if I am to retrieve what is mine."

Mathias examined the potion carefully as he listened to his master's words.

"Forgive me my lord, but if drinking the potion is that dangerous how are we to get to the treasure beneath?"

"We will not Mathias…You will." Voldemort voice was so soft it was almost a whisper.

"What…" His servant's words were cut off.

" _Imperio."_ Volemort intoned.

Mathias eyes glazed over.

"You will drink the potion from the bowl. You will not stop until every last drop is consumed."

Mathias did not respond or hesitate, his will completely subsumed by that of the dark lord. Reaching forward he lifted the half sea shell from the lip of the basin and dipped it into the portion, filling the shell as much as possible.

He lifted the potion to his lips and swallowed his first mouthful without pause.

His body gave a brief shudder, but he did not seem to notice as he was already busy retrieving another scoopful.

The second mouthful went down as smooth as the first, but this time the shudder was more pronounced and sweat had begun to appear on the man's forehead.

This is how it continued for the next several minutes as Mathias Collander continued to drink the potion one scoop at a time.

The potion was half gone when Mathias' body finally succumbed. Falling to his knees a scream was wrenched from his throat as his worst fears clawed at his mind overwhelming the curse that had fogged it up until that point.

"No no no …..No please….No more…" He whimpered as he hugged his hands close to himself.

Voldemort frowned as he looked at his servant.

" _Imperio!"_ He cast once more forcing more power into his curse.

It was strong enough for 2 more scoops before the terror the potion forced on the drinker once more overwhelmed the Imperius. Coughing and crying the man tried to blindly crawl away from the basin, trembling so violently that he was barely able to hold himself up with his arms.

Sighing in aggravation Voldemort followed his servant and lowered himself down close enough to see his eyes.

"Very good Mathias you have served me well. Unfortunately a little more is needed before we are through…but do not fear your master will help you."

The dark smile he gave the horrified man this time was in no way comforting.

Grasping the man's chin Voldemort pulled his head up until their eyes met.

" _Legilimens._ "

The dark lord dove into Mathias Collanders mind, easily brushing aside the meager defenses the man had in place.

He wasn't looking for a memory though…he wasn't _searching_ for anything in fact.

Reaching out to envelop the man's mind in his own…he started twisting.

Mathias' screamed, louder than before as his mind was shredded. The screams lasted for only a minute before his body gave out, no longer capable of holding itself up.

Voldemort pulled away satisfied as he gazed down at the drooling and glazed expression of the shell in front of him.

"Now that there is nothing left to scare you with….let's try this again… _imperio!"_

The body in front of him that used to be known as Mathias Collander climbed to its feet and walked to the basin once again. Not bothering with the shell this time it merely leaned down into the bowl and submerged its face in the potion. Mouth open wide it started drinking the brew as quickly as was physically possible, the effects no longer a concern.

It took only a few more seconds for the treasure to finally be revealed. Once he saw the locket emerge Voledmort released his hold on his puppet, who immediately fell to the floor as if its strings had been cut. Face slack and eyes devoid of understanding as they stared blankly at the ceiling above them.

"That was a bit wasteful Tom." Abbadon scolded sarcastically from the side where his image was once again floating on the lake's mirror like surface.

"He was unimportant my lord…I have plenty more where he came from." Voldemort replied as he reached down and picked up his horcrux. "I will simply…"

Voldemort words were cut off as he frowned in confusion.

"Oh…is something wrong Tom?" Abbadon inquired curiously.

"I can't feel….No!" Voldemort finished with a snarl as he pried the locket open and saw the note inside.

A pulse of magic blasted off the wizard as his rage exploded violently. The comatose wizard on the ground was flung off the island and into the lake with a loud splash. The body floating for a brief moment before it was suddenly pulled below the surface and disappearing without a trace.

It was gone! His Horcrux had been stolen!

Deep beneath the anger that someone would dare steal what was his, fear stirred.

"Someone knows Tom…." The Demon Lord whispered with glee. "They know your secret."

The demons laughter rang out across the cavern as Voldemort clenched his fists tightly.

"I must check on the rest." He said to himself.

"Yes…but I would hurry." His master replied advised. "If they truly know what it is they stole, than they know how to kill you Tom." The malicious joy in the demon's voice made him shudder. "You are vulnerable..."

The last word echoed off the walls as Voldemort swiftly turned and started making his way back to the boat.

He would not allow this.

No one would interfere with his plans. He wouldn't allow it.

No one challenged Lord Voldemort and lived to regret it.

Too Be Continued…

 **Ending Author's Note:** Hey everyone boy has it been a while. Thank you all for hanging in there and not giving up on the story. I know this chapter is slightly shorter than my previous updates, but I have decided to go with shorter chapters in an effort to increase my update speed.

If you missed my Author's Note at the beginning let me summarize the details real quick here.

I have rewritten chapters 1-3. I changed some plot points around, but for the most part I simply went through and cleaned up the writing a bit. I was not happy with a lot of it. That's part of the reason I was so slow to update. It was difficult to be excited about writing more when I was already less than pleased with the writing I had already done.

I've also been working a little more on Guardians of Akasha and writing out plot points for another story I have yet to publish.

My mind is a mishmash of unfinished storyboards and half thought out ideas for various shows and books. I am a slave to the moment and unfortunately that makes it a bit difficult to meet deadlines.

Let me know what you guys think of the re-writes in the review section. I'm still not 100% happy with the previous chapters, but I'm still polishing my writing. I'll get there eventually.

Thanks Everyone! Hope you all are enjoying the holidays!


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